LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 


ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

SON  OP  A  PENNSYLVANIA  PIONEER;    BOY  ORATOR  OF 

ULYSSES;    FOR    THE   FREEDOM   OF    THE  SLAVE; 

DEFENSE  OF   THE   UNION;     DEVELOPMENT 

OP    THE   NORTHERN   TIER;    CITIZEN, 

JURIST,  STATESMAN. 


By 
RUFUS  BARRETT  STONE 


PHILADELPHIA 

THE  JOHN  C.  WINSTON   COMPANY 

1919 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  i»F  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


Copyright,  1919,  by 
RUFUS  BABRETT  STONH. 


"He  lives  twice  who  lives  well." 

— Olmsted  Ancestral  Motto. 


PREFACE 

THE  generation  in  which  a  man  of  dis 
tinction  has  lived  becomes  familiar 
with  the  significant  incidents  of  his 
career.  But  if  he  has  survived  to  a  great  age 
and  gradually  retired  from  public  view,  while 
the  visible  results  of  his  genius,  his  public 
spirit,  his  philanthropy,  remain  as  the  me 
mentos  of  his  mature  years,  the  story  of  his 
earlier  life  becomes  dim,  and  the  perfect 
whole  can  only  be  restored  by  retracing  the 
steps  of  his  upward  pathway.  It  is  due  to  the 
community  in  which  he  lived,  to  the  people 
and  the  state  which  he  served,  that  some 
account  of  the  notable  incidents  of  his  ancestry 
and  the  circumstances  of  his  youth  should  be 
preserved,  and  some  connected  record  made 
of  the  leading  events  which  marked  the 
contemporary  history  of  the  community  of 
which  he  was  a  part,  and  which  gave  impres 
sion  to  his  character  in  its  formative  period 
and  to  the  development  of  his  ripening 
faculties.  The  history,  itself,  is  incomplete 
without  the  relation  which  he  bore  to  it,  the 

(7) 


8  PREFACE 

part  taken  by  him,  which,  perchance,  gave  to 
occurrences  then  transpiring  some  distinctive 
form  and  significant  direction  towards  results 
of  historical  consequence.  In  the  span  of 
life  of  one  who,  from  youth  to  old  age,  lived 
in  a  pioneer  county  of  northern  Pennsylvania, 
and  became  influential  in  its  settlement  and 
progress,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  incidents  in 
its  growth  were  comprehended.  So  the  stories 
of  the  community  and  the  individual  run 
parallel,  and  here  and  there  are  interwoven. 
Official  distinctions,  however  high  or  numer 
ous,  though  denoting  public  confidence,  are 
not  the  truest  measure  of  success  in  life. 
Neither  Franklin,  nor  Edison,  nor  Longfellow, 
were  elevated  to  the  highest  posts  of  official 
honor.  Indeed,  public  service  sometimes 
interrupts  careers  which,  if  left  to  normal 
courses,  might  evolve  into  far  more  important 
spheres  of  usefulness.  Moreover,  the  call  to 
office  is  not  alone  dependent  upon  qualities 
for  service,  but  is  more  or  less  incidental, 
contingent  upon  environment,  events,  his 
toric  periods.  So  influential  are  these  factors 
that,  given  the  period  and  place,  the  parentage 
and  ancestry,  an  attentive  student  of  biog 
raphy,  with  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  history, 


PREFACE  9 

local  and  general,  could  almost  project  and 
weave  into  a  narrative,  the  prefigured  inci 
dents  of  a  boy's  life;  or,  if  the  course  of  life 
were  run,  looking  backward  over  the  actual 
events,  could  see  where  its  natural  develop 
ment  had  been  deflected  or  accelerated.  It 
must,  therefore,  be  considered  that  as  youth 
develops  to  manhood  and  manhood  to  middle 
age,  and  so  on,  the  influences  exerted  by  the 
individual  and  his  environment  upon  one 
another  are  doubly  interesting.  His  con 
tribution  in  its  relation  to  locality  and  events 
is  the  true  criterion  of  his  success. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  volume  the 
writer  has  consulted  both  personal  corre 
spondence  and  published  family  histories, 
including  the  Genealogy  of  the  Olmsted 
Family,  by  Rev.  George  K.  Ward;  An 
Abridged  Genealogy  of  the  Olmsted  Family, 
by  Elijah  L.  Thomas;  Savage's  Genealogi 
cal  Dictionary;  American  Ancestry;  Genea 
logical  and  Personal  History  of  Northern 
Pennsylvania;  also  town  and  county  his 
tories,  inclusive  of  histories  of  the  counties 
of  Potter,  Cameron  and  McKean  in  Pennsyl 
vania;  of  the  counties  of  Delaware,  Saratoga, 
Fulton  and  Ulster  in  New  York;  of  the  towns 


10  PREFACE 

of  Norwalk,  Ridgefield  and  Hartford,  in 
Connecticut;  Gazetteer  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  Twentieth  Century  of  Bench  and  Bar, 
McClure's  Recollections  of  Half  a  Century, 
Report  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Potter 
County,  Journals  of  the  House  and  Senate  of 
Pennsylvania;  also  files  of  the  Potter  County 
Journal,  Philadelphia  Inquirer,  Press,  Evening 
Telegraph,  North  American  and  United  States 
Gazette. 

Acknowledgment  for  courtesies  is  also  ex 
tended  to  Mr.  F.  S.  Hammond,  of  Syracuse, 
N.  Y.;  Mr.  C.  S.  Beverly,  Towanda,  Pa.;  Mr. 
Oscar  J.  Harvey,  Wilkesbarre,  Pa.;  to  the 
Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  Widener 
Public  Library  of  Philadelphia,  State  Library 
of  Pennsylvania,  Grosvenor  Library  and  Pub 
lic  Library  of  Buffalo,  Connecticut  State 
Library,  and  to  the  respective  offices  of  the 
Adjutants  General  of  the  United  States  and 
of  the  States  of  New  York,  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


PREFACE 7 

I  FOLLOWING  THE  MAYFLOWER 15 

II  THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  . .  24 

III  IN  THE  REVOLUTION 33 

IV  ON  Two  FRONTIERS 39 

V  BOYHOOD  AND  SCHOOLDAYS 53 

VI  LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE  . .  64 

VII  FOR  ABOLITION  AND  THE  UNION  . .  88 

VIII  FROM  HOME  LIFE  TO  HARRISBURG  108 

IX  THE  SPEAKERSHIP  IN  1865 124 

X  SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE 140 

XI  STATE  LEADER  AND  CANDIDATE  .  .  170 

XII  As  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE 208 

XIII  ROUNDING  THE  YEARS 234 

XIV  FOUR-SCORE  AND  SEVEN 248 

INDEX  ,  261 


(ii) 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PORTRAIT  OF  ARTHUR  G.  OLMSTED  Frontispiece 

PAGE 

His  MANUSCRIPT 14 

DRAFT  FROM  SHAEFER'S  MAP 44 

CONNECTICUT-SUSQUEHANNA  TOWNSHIPS    47 

EAST  AND  WEST  HIGHWAY 48 

FOUNTAIN-HEAD  OF  RIVERS 49 

PREHISTORIC  BATTLE-GROUND 51 

JERSEY  SHORE,  PINE  CREEK  AND  BUF 
FALO  R.  R 150 

MANUSCRIPT  OF  Gov.  GEARY 163 

MANUSCRIPT  OF  GEN.  KANE 174 

STATESMEN  OF  THE  NORTHERN  TIER 

Facing  page  238 

SOURCES  OF  POPULATION 244 

MANUSCRIPT  OF  Gov.  HARTRANFT 249 

SIGNATURE  OF  THOMAS  H.  MURRAY  .         254 


(13) 


— From  the  manuscript  of  Arthur  G.  Olmsted. 


CHAPTER  I 

FOLLOWING  THE  MAYFLOWER 

No  home  for  these  ! — too  well  they  knew 
The  mitred  king  behind  the  throne; — 

The  sails  were  set,  the  pennons  flew, 
And  westward  ho  I  for  worlds  unknown. 

And  these  were  they  who  gave  us  birth, 

The  Pilgrims  of  the  sunset  wave, 
Who  won  for  us  this  virgin  earth, 

And  freedom  with  the  soil  they  gave. 

— HOLMES. 

THE  English  birthplace  of  the  Olmsted 
family  was  in  old  Essex1  (East  Saxon), 
between   Cambridge  and  Braintree.2 
These  rolling  uplands  constituted  the  heart  of 
the  agricultural  district  tributary  to  London. 
Land  titles,  not  held  by  socage,  free  or  villein, 
were  becoming  settled  into  tenures  of  frankal- 
moigne,  grand  serjeanty  or  copyhold,  and  the 

1  "Bounded  on  the  east  and  south  by  the  German  Ocean  and  the  River  Thames; 
by  Suffolk  and  Cambridgeshire  on  the  north,  and  by  Hertfordshire  and  Middlesex 
on  the  west." — Wright's  Encyclopaedic  Repository  (London). 

2  The  ancient  English  seat  of  the  Olmsted  family  has  been  long  identified.    Allu 
sion  is  made  to  the  parish  of  "Elmsted"  in  "Doomsday  Book"  for  the  County  of 
Essex  in  the  reported  survey  made  under  William  the  Conqueror  in  1086.     The 
name  is  Saxon,     Elm"  and    sted,"  meaning  the  place  of  elms.     It  was  also  written 
Almesteda,  Enmested.     In  this  parish,  later  known  as  Bumsted-Helion  in  Cam- 

(15) 


16  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

inhabitants,  whose  prayers  were  answered 
in  great  annual  harvests  of  coriander,  canary 
and  caraway,  were  already  searching  and 
fertile  for  the  seed  of  new  thought — if  only 
freedom  of  thought  had  been  vouchsafed. 
There  were  days  when  the  odors  of  the  sea 
wafted  inward  over  the  fens  their  suggestions 
of  other  shores;  and  on  the  Blackwater  ocean 
ships  were  setting  their  sails. 

When  James  Olmsted,  the  first  of  the 
colonists,  set  out  for  America,  he  left  the 
eastern  counties  of  England  in  a  state  of 
intense  religious  commotion.  Luther  had 
nailed  his  ninety-five  theses  to  the  door  of  the 
Wittenberg  church,  and  the  blows  of  his 
hammer  had  been  heard  across  the  English 
Channel.  Calvin,  too,  had  spread  dissent. 
The  government  was  alarmed,  and  sought  to 
suppress  the  uprising  with  an  iron  hand. 
A  statute  was  enacted  "for  abolishing  diver 
sity  of  opinions."  The  people  of  England, 
according  to  the  historian  Green,  had  become 

bridgeshire,  near  the  present  town  of  Braintree,  the  ancestral  home  was  situated. 
As  early  as  1242,  it  was  occupied  by  Maurice  de  Olmstede,  and  earlier  by  Martin 
de  Olmsted,  who  was  the  donor  of  lands  to  the  fraternity  of  the  Knights  Templar. 
The  modification  of  the  name  is  perhaps  due  to  the  fact  that  the  manor  was  sur 
rounded  by  a  moat,  since  the  Saxon  word  "holm"  signified  an  island.  The  house, 
still  well  preserved,  and  now  included  in  the  property  of  the  University  of  Cam 
bridge,  is  a  long  low  structure  of  stone  and  plaster,  with  thatched  roof.  Since  the 
fifteenth  century  it  has  been  known  as  Olmsted  Hall.  It  is  thought  that  this  designa 
tion  is  due  to  the  fact  that  within  its  walls  at  one  time  courts  were  held. — Wright't 
Index,  Vol.  II,  pp.  759-60;  American  Ancestry,  IV,  p.  29. 


FOLLOWING  THE  MAYFLOWER    17 

"the  people  of  a  book,  and  that  book  was  the 
Bible."  The  Puritans  pleaded  in  vain  for  the 
liberty  of  interpretation.  They  were  pursued 
to  their  hiding  places.1  Nevertheless,  they 
multiplied.  "A  great  number  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  American  States,"  says  Guizot,  "had 
frequented  their  assemblages."  A  law  was 
enacted  forbidding  persons  over  five  in  num 
ber,  and  over  sixteen  years  of  age,  unless  of 
one  family,  to  meet  for  domestic  or  social 
worship.  Thus  persecuted,  the  people  in  1592 
petitioned  the  privy  council  for  permission  to 
come  to  unexplored  America,  for  freedom  to 
worship  God  "As  in  conscience  persuaded 
by  His  Word."  Although  the  petition  was 
ignored,  the  dissenters  increased.  Perpetual 
discussion  prevailed.  Surely  it  was  "no  mean 
school  for  intellectual  training."  Raleigh,  a 
year  later,  speaking  in  parliament,  said  that 
there  were  twenty  thousand  who  attended 
conventicles.  They  were  mainly  residents  of 
the  counties  along  and  near  the  eastern  coast, 
Norfolk,  Suffolk,  Essex,  Middlesex  and  Cam- 


1  "They  were  imprisoned  and  scourged;  their  noses  were  slit;  their  ears  were 
cut  off;  their  cheeks  were  marked  with  a  red  hot  brand.  But  the  lash  and  the 
shears  and  the  glowing  iron  could  not  destroy  principles  which  were  rooted  in  the 
soul,  and  which  danger  made  it  glorious  to  profess.  .  .  .  The  dungeon,  the  pillory 
and  the  scaffold  were  stages  in  the  progress  of  civil  liberty  towards  its  triumph." — 
Bancroft's  Hist,  of  U.  8..  Vol.  2,  page  320. 


18     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

bridge,  including  the  notable  seats  of  learning1 
and  centers  of  wealth.  How  completely  the 
growing  purpose  of  the  liberty-loving  people 
of  these  counties  to  transplant  their  ideal 
England  to  the  shores  of  America  was  ulti 
mately  realized  is  denoted  by  the  fact  that  the 
counties  bordering  on  Massachusetts  Bay  were 
given  the  identical  names  of  the  English 
counties,  and  ere  long  became  a  veritable  New 
England  to  the  eager  immigrants,  who  carried 
with  them  the  love  of  their  native  land. 

The  decade  to  come  was  one  of  repressed 
religious  yearning,  of  persecution  and  ferment. 
At  length  the  little  church  of  the  Pilgrims 
escaped  to  Holland.  The  Mayflower  sailed 
and  returned.  Meantime  Cambridge  had 
become  the  center  of  revolt.  It  was  here 
and  in  the  neighboring  communities  of  Essex 
that  Thomas  Hooker  and  Samuel  Stone,  both 
of  Emmanuel  College,  dared  to  preach  the 
doctrine  of  the  freedom  of  the  conscience. 
King  James  declared:  "I  will  make  them 
conform,  or  I  will  harry  them  out  of  the 
land,  or  else  worse — only  hang  them;  that's 
all."  The  beckoning  of  freedom  toward 

ideas. 


FOLLOWING  THE  MAYFLOWER    19 

America  became  irresistible.  Cromwell  sym 
pathized  with  the  Puritans,  and  would  have 
sailed  with  them,  but  was  taken  from  the 
departing  vessel  by  order  of  the  King,  a 
circumstance  by  which  a  new  direction  was 
given  to  the  history  of  England.1  Hampden, 
too,  was  eager  to  throw  in  his  lot  with  the 
colonists,  and  though  he  remained  in  Eng 
land,  he  ultimately  aided  them  to  procure  a 
royal  charter. 

Within  the  Cambridge  sphere  of  influence 
were  the  Essex  homes  of  James  Olmsted  and 
his  brother  Richard.  They  had  thrived  under 
the  wise  economic  maxim  of  Elizabeth:  "The 
money  which  is  in  the  pockets  of  my  subjects  is 
as  useful  to  me  as  that  in  my  treasury." 
They  were  the  owners  of  large  estates,  and 
while  it  is  not  recorded  that  they  left  all  to 
follow  in  the  wake  of  the  Mayflower,  the 
purpose  to  emigrate  could  not  have  been 
contemplated  without  anticipating  material 
sacrifice. 

The  decision  involved  more  to  them  than 
can  now  be  easily  reckoned.  It  implied  the 


1  Four  years  later  (1641)  when  Parliament  had  by  a  majority  of  eleven  votes 
passed  the  remonstrance,  Oliver  Cromwell  said:  "If  the  remonstrance  had  been 
rejected,  I  would  have  sold  all  I  have  in  the  morning  and  never  would  have  seen 
England  more,  and  I  know  there  are  many  honest  men  of  the  same  resolution."— 
Ouizot't  History  of  England,  Vol.  II,  p.  444. 


20  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

utmost  individual  risk  for  the  cause  of  religious 
liberty.  Their  leadership  and  influence  at 
this  juncture  could  hardly  have  been  over 
rated  by  their  exiled  compatriots.1 

These  brothers,  James  and  Richard,  were 
children  of  James,  Jr.  (and  Jane  Bristow),  of 
Great  Leighs,  County  of  Essex,  born  about 
1550,  who  was  one  of  three  sons  of  James, 
whose  wife  was  Alice,  and  who  was  a  descend 
ant  of  Richard,  born  about  1430,  these  facts 
being  verified  by  the  church  records  of 
Fairsted  and  Great  Leighs.2 

When  the  time  for  departure  came,  it 
seemed  best  that  Richard  should  remain  in 
England,  presumably  to  better  dispose  of 
his  own  and  his  brother's  affairs,  for  of  his 
intention  to  go  there  can  be  little  doubt,  since 
his  three  children,  Richard,  John  and  Rebecca, 
accompanied  their  uncle  James.  Their  father, 
however,  did  not  survive  to  join  them  in  their 
New  England  home.  Besides  these  children 
of  his  brother,  James  was  accompanied  by  his 

1  "It  was  not  a  mere  party  of  adventurers  gone  forth  to  seek  their  fortune 
beyond  seas,  but  the  germ  of  a  great  nation  wafted  by  Providence  to  a  predestined 
shore.  .  .  .  These  men  possessed,  in  proportion  to  their  number,  a  greater  mass 
of  intelligence  than  is  to  be  found  in  any  European  nation  of  our  own  time.  .  .  . 
Nor  did  they  cross  the  Atlantic  to  improve  their  situation  or  to  increase  their  wealth; 
it  was  a  purely  intellectual  craving  which  called  them  from  the  comforts  of  their 
former  homes;   and  in  facing  the  inevitable  sufferings  of  exile,  their  object  was  the 
triumph  of  an  idea." — De  Tocqueville's  Democracy  in  America,  Vol.  I,  pp.  38-40. 

2  Address  of  Prof.  Everett  W.  Olmsted,  Olmsted  Genealogy,  by  Olmsted  and 
Ward,  p.  xv. 


FOLLOWING  THE  MAYFLOWER    21 

own  sons,  Nicholas  and  Nehemiah,  and  by  a 
goodly  number  of  his  Essex  neighbors.  There 
were  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  pas 
sengers,  including  fifty  children.  They  sailed 
from  Braintree,  a  river  port  in  their  own 
county,  in  the  ship  Lyon  under  Captain 
Pierce,  and  after  a  voyage  of  twelve  weeks 
arrived  in  Boston  harbor,  on  Sunday,  the 
sixteenth  day .  of  September,  1632.  They 
settled  first  at  Mount  Wollaston,  now  Quincy, 
near  Boston,  but  in  the  course  of  the  year 
"by  order  of  the  Court,"  they  removed  to 
Newtown,  soon  to  be  known  as  Cambridge,  a 
name  dear  to  these  heroic  exiles.  Hooker 
and  Stone,  when  they  landed  a  little  later, 
found  the  larger  part  of  their  Cambridge 
congregation  awaiting  them  at  the  wharf. 

The  entire  Massachusetts  colony  then  num 
bered  but  little  more  than  a  thousand  souls. 
John  Winthrop,  of  Groton,  in  English  Suffolk, 
had  been  chosen  governor.  Among  those  who 
had  come  over  on  the  previous  voyage  of  the 
Lyon  was  Roger  William's,  the  founder  in 
New  England  of  the  Baptist  faith.  The  year 
had  been  notable,  too,  for  the  visit  of  the 
Sagamore  of  the  Mohegans  from  the  banks  of 
the  Connecticut.  He  came  to  extol  the 


22  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

fertility  of  the  lands  of  the  river  valley,  and  to 
solicit  an  English  plantation  as  a  reinforce 
ment  against  the  Pequods. 

Richard  Olmsted,  the  elder  of  the  young 
immigrants  of  the  Olmsted  name,  was  nearly 
twenty-one  years  of  age  when  he  stepped 
ashore,  having  been  baptized  at  Fairsted  in 
Essex,  February  20,  1612.  The  invitation  of 
the  Mohegans  appealed  to  his  spirit  of 
adventure,  and  to  the  vigor  of  his  young  man 
hood.  Besides,  he  and  his  companions  were 
in  revolt  against  the  theocratic  government 
of  the  Bay  Colony.  He  enlisted  with  a 
number  of  his  Cambridge  comrades  for  the 
proposed  expedition.  Westward  to  the  Con 
necticut  was  an  unexplored  region.1  Under 
the  inspiration  of  Hooker  and  Stone,  who 
already  had  a  vision  of  a  true  government 
conceived  by  them  on  shipboard,  they  struck 
out  into  the  wilderness,  and  after  many  days 
of  hardship  and  danger,  reached  the  river 
bank,  and  founded  a  settlement  to  which  they 
afterwards  gave  the  name  of  Hartford,  after 


i  Extract  from  Winthrop't  Journal:  "June  SO,  1636.  Mr.  Hooker,  pastor  of 
the  church  at  New  Town,  and  the  most  of  his  congregation,  went  to  Connecticut. 
His  wife  was  carried  in  a  horse-litter;  and  they  drove  one  hundred  and  sixty  cattle 
and  fed  of  their  milk  by  the  way."  Trumbull  says:  "This  adventure  was  the  more 
remarkable  as  many  of  this  company  were  persons  of  figure,  who  had  lived  in  Eng 
land  in  honor,  affluence  and  delicacy,  and  were  entire  strangers  to  fatigue  and  danger?' 


FOLLOWING  THE  MAYFLOWER    23 

the  county  seat  of  old  Hartford,1  the  birth 
place  of  Samuel  Stone.  There  could  not 
have  been  more  than  fifty  persons  in  the 
settlement,  for  as  late  as  1637  there  were, 
according  to  Bancroft,  but  one  hundred  and 
eighty  in  the  three  towns  of  the  colony, 
Hartford,  Windsor  and  Weathersfield,  noting 
that  he  says  the  force  organized  in  that  year 
to  prosecute  the  Pequod  war  numbered  about 
sixty  men,  "one-third  of  the  whole  colony." 
Richard  Olmsted  was  one  of  the  original  pro 
prietors  in  this  colony.  He  was  a  soldier  in 
the  colonial  army.  His  native  qualities  of 
leadership  were  soon  recognized.  He  was 
elected  a  sergeant,  and  quickly  promoted  to  a 
lieutenancy.  The  enemy  was  defeated. 

'Pronounced  "Harford," 


CHAPTER  II 

AT  THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

THE  colony  effected  an  organization 
under  a  constitution  adopted  Janu 
ary  14,  1639.  It  was  an  epochal 
organic  document,  being  the  first  in  the 
series  of  American  consitutions,  and  it  has 
never  since  been  materially  altered.1  Hooker 
had  been  restive  and  rebellious  under  the 
theocratic  commonwealth  projected  for  the 
Bay  Colony.  "The  foundation  of  author 
ity,"  said  he  in  an  election  sermon  preached 
before  the  general  court  in  May,  1638,  "is  laid 
in  the  free  consent  of  the  people,  to  whom  the 
choice  of  public  magistrates  belongs  by  God's 
own  allowance."  In  further  exposition  to 
Winthrop,  Hooker  wrote: 

"In  matters  of  greater  consequence,  which 
concern  the  common  good,  a  general  council, 
chosen  by  all,  to  transact  businesses  which 
concern  all,  I  conceive,  under  favor,  most 
suitable  to  rule,  and  most  safe  for  relief  of 


1Says  John  Fiske:    "It  was  the  first  written    constitution  known  to  history 
that  created  a  government,  and  it  marked  the  beginnings  of  American  democracy.  ' 

(24) 


. 


CRADLE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC      25 

the  whole.  This  was  the  practice  of  the 
Jewish  church,  and  the  approved  experience 
of  the  best  ordered  states." 

Thus,  from  the  beginning,  Connecticut  was 
constituted  an  independent  republic.  The 
prescribed  oath  of  office  recognized  no  higher 
authority.  It  bound  the  magistrates  "to 
administer  justice"  according  to  the  laws 
here  established,  and  for  want  thereof  accord 
ing  to  the  word  of  God."  It  was  a  brave 
renunciation  of  the  doctrine  of  the  "Divine 
right  of  Kings." 

Richard  Olmsted,  scarce  twenty-eight  years 
of  age,  took  part  in  this  organization  of  the 
colony  he  had  fought  to  save  from  the 
destruction  for  which  it  had  been  marked  by 
the  savage  Pequods.  He  was  elected  a 
delegate  to  the  first  legislature,  called  the 
"General  Court,"  and  thereafter  for  many 
years  was  repeatedly  chosen  to  take  part  in 
its  deliberations.  He  held  other  less  impor 
tant  offices.  His  dwelling-house  in  Hartford 
was  on  the  west  side  of  Main  Street,  at  No.  49. 
The  site  in  later  years  has  been  occupied  by 
the  Central  Church  and  the  old  burying- 
ground. 

Two  years  after  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 


26     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

necticut  constitution  all  the  colonies  of  New 
England  united  in  a  formal  confederation,  and 
John  Winthrop  was  elected  president.  Then 
followed  a  decade  of  peaceful  colonial  growth. 
By  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  the 
population  of  New  England  had  increased  to 
twenty-one  thousand.  Two  hundred  ninety- 
eight  ships  had  borne  them  across  the  ocean. 
In  ten  years  fifty  towns  and  villages  had  been 
planted.  Still  religion,  as  in  the  land  they 
had  left,  was  the  uppermost  theme.  While 
Roger  Williams,  brave  pioneer  of  intellectual 
freedom,  was  a  welcome  visitor  at  Hartford, 
the  Baptist  doctrine  which  he  taught  was  a 
new  source  of  agitation.  From  the  Rhode 
Island  colony,  also,  came  Samuel  Gorton, 
proclaiming  that  heaven  was  not  a  place,  that 
there  was  no  heaven  but  in  the  hearts  of  good 
men,  no  hell  but  in  the  mind;  and  later  came 
the  exiled  Quakers.  Nevertheless,  to  the 
inhabitants  whose  lives  had  hitherto  been 
harassed  by  the  oppressions  of  the  crown, 
these  were  the  "halcyon  days  of  peace." 
"These  days,"  says  the  historian,  "never 
will  return.  Time,  as  it  advances,  unfolds 
new  scenes  in  the  grand  drama  of  human  exis 
tence,  scenes  of  more  glory,  of  more  wealth,  of 


CRADLE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC      27 

more  action,  but  not  of  more  tranquillity  and 
purity." 

Richard  Olmsted,  in  1651,  had  arrived  at 
the  age  of  thirty -nine.  Hooker,  the  beloved 
pastor  and  incomparable  colonial  leader,  had 
died,  and  theological  controversies  were  again 
arising.  A  treaty  with  the  Dutch  governor 
had  been  signed  at  Hartford,  defining  terri 
torial  claims,  and  relieving  from  controversy 
the  royal  charter  which  had  been  procured  for 
the  English  colonists,  by  Hampden,  the  great 
Commoner,  and  his  associates,  extending  from 
Point  Judith  westward  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
Wide  opportunities  seemed  to  be  opening. 
The  settlements  of  New  England  were  expand 
ing  toward  the  West.  It  was  sufficient  to  stir 
the  imagination  and  stimulate  the  ambition 
of  one  in  the  vigor  of  life,  as  was  Richard 
Olmsted.  He  had  in  some  humble  degree 
helped  to  fashion  at  Hartford  a  new  form  of 
government  among  men,  based  upon  the  will 
of  the  people,  the  freedom  of  the  conscience, 
the  separation  of  church  and  state,  a  civil  code 
which  was  to  become  the  framework  of  the 
future  republic.  Now,  he  aspired  to  found  a 
town,  and  mold  and  develop  it  after  his  own 
plan.  About  ten  years  before  he  had  acquired 


28  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

grants  of  considerable  land1  about  sixty -eight 
miles  southwest  of  Hartford,  near  the  mouth 
of  a  little  stream  emptying  into  Long  Island 
Sound,  and  to  it,  "defying  the  dangers  of 
wild  beast  and  Indians,'*  he  removed  with  his 
own  and  nineteen  other  families.  He  had 
two  sons,  James  and  John,  and  a  daughter, 
who  died  in  infancy,  all  children  of  his  first 
wife.  Although  twice  married,  as  disclosed 
by  his  will,2  no  particulars  of  either  marriage 
are  recorded.  The  settlement  at  length 
became  centered  in  a  place  called  Norwalk, 
now  a  flourishing  city  of  twenty  thousand 
people.  Here  he  spent  his  mature  life.  The 
town  grew  as  he  designed.  He  was  its 
representative  in  General  Court,  from  year 
to  year.  He  was  sergeant  of  its  military  com 
pany.3  At  the  outbreak  of  King  Philip's 
War  (1675),  he  was  sixty-three  years  of  age. 
The  growth  of  the  colonies  had  encroached 
upon  the  Indian  hunting  grounds.  The  reli 
gion  of  the  white  man  was  a  source  of  irrita 
tion.  Massasoit  had  tried  in  vain  to  preclude 

1  "He  had  large  grants  of  land  in  Fairfield,  which  then  embraced  a  consider 
able  territory,  portions  of  which  were  narrow  strips  running  back  from  the  coast 
about  six  miles,  to  the  present  town  of  Redding,  and  including  lands  since  known  as 
Chestnut  Hill  and  Buckingham  Ridge;  also  grants  on  the  site  of  Norwalk,  the  same 
being  recorded  on  page  1  of  Vol.  I  of  Norwalk  Land  Records." 

2  Will  dated  Sept.  5, 1684,  recorded  in  Book  III,  p.  217,  Fairfield  Prolate  Records. 
8  Savage's  Genealogical  Dictionary  of  New  England,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  312. 


CRADLE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC      29 

by  treaty  any  attempt  to  convert  his  warriors 
from  the  religion  of  their  race.  War  was  to 
the  Indians  an  unwelcome  alternative.  "They 
rose  without  hope,  and  they  fought  without 
mercy.  For  them  as  a  nation  there  was  no 
tomorrow."  The  white  settlers,  too,  were 
appalled  at  the  prospect  of  war.  Superstition 
ran  wild.  At  the  eclipse  of  the  moon  an 
Indian  scalp  was  seen  imprinted  on  its  disk. 
A  perfect  Indian  bow  appeared  in  the  sky. 
The  sighing  of  the  wind  became  the  whistling 
of  bullets.  Invisible  troops  of  horses  were 
heard  galloping  through  the  air.  In  such  a 
terror-stricken  community  Richard  Olmsted 
was  the  leader  to  whom  the  settlers  turned  for 
heroic  guidance.  He  was  chosen  captain  of  a 
company  of  militia,  and  led  it  through  that 
bloody  year  of  ambuscade  and  surprise,  of  fire 
and  pillage,  to  the  end  of  the  most  destructive 
war  ever  visited  upon  New  England. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Captain  Olmsted 
was  again  returned  to  a  seat  in  the  legis 
lature,  and  for  several  successive  terms  was 
re-elected.  He  died  in  1686,  seventy-four 
years  of  age.  His  will  was  signed  two  years 
before  his  death.  It  is  on  file  at  Fairfield, 
the  county  seat. 


30  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

His  son,  John  Olmsted,  who,  with  James, 
his  brother,  shared  the  property  of  their  uncle, 
John  Olmsted,  at  his  decease,  was  baptized  at 
Hartford,  December  30, 1649.  By  his  father's 
will  he  acquired  the  parental  homestead  and 
other  valuable  real  estate.  He  married 
(July  1,  1673)  Mary  Benedict,  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Mary  (Bridgeman)  Benedict,  of 
Southfield,  Long  Island,  and  upon  her  demise 
he  married  Elizabeth  (Pardie),  widow  of 
Thomas  Gregory.  He  left  the  parental 
homestead  at  Norwalk,  and  took  up  his 
residence  at  Hartford.  In  1699  and  again  in 
1703  he  was  chosen  selectman,  and  in  the 
military  company  he  was  a  lieutenant.  He 
died  in  1704.  His  will  is  not  recorded,  but  in 
the  inventory  of  his  estate  the  names  and 
approximate  ages  of  his  children  appear.1 
Among  his  children  were  two  sons,  of  whom 
Richard,  the  younger,  was  born  in  1692,  and 
Daniel  ten  years  earlier.  Richard  married 
(April  22,  1714)  Mary  Betts  (who  was  born 
September  10,  1693,  and  died  January  31, 
1786),  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Judith  (Rey 
nolds)  Betts. 

These  two  young  men  seem  to  have  in- 

i  De»cendant»  of  Captain  Richard  Olmrted,  by  Hammond. 


CRADLE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC      31 

herited  the  enterprise  and  pioneer  spirit  of 
their  grandfather,  for,  as  early  as  1708,  before 
either  was  married,  they  had  negotiated  the 
purchase  of  twenty  thousand  acres  from  the 
Indian  sachem  Catoonah,  and  his  associates 
of  the  Ramapoo  tribe.  This  tract  was  a  part 
of  the  unsettled  wilderness,  about  thirteen 
miles  north  of  Norwalk,  lying  along  the 
eastern  boundary  of  New  York.  The  con 
sideration  was  one  hundred  English  pounds. 
The  purchase  was  sanctioned  by  the  general 
assembly  sitting  at  Hartford.  The  two 
brothers  and  twenty -two  others,  of  Norwalk 
and  Milford,  formed  a  colony  and  settled  on 
this  tract.  When  the  settlement  became  a 
town,  it  was  called  Ridgefield,  the  name  which 
it  still  bears. 

Richard  Olmsted  served  as  town  clerk  in 
1712,  when  barely  twenty-one  years  of  age.1 
What  other  offices  he  may  have  subsequently 
held  is  not  now  known,  but  he  was  called 
Captain  Olmsted.  Hence  it  is  to  be  inferred 
that  he  was  a  captain  of  the  Ridgefield  com 
pany  in  the  state  militia.  He  died  October 
16,  1776,  eighty-four  years  of  age. 


1  The  elder  brother,  Daniel,  represented  the  town  in  the  state  legislature  in  the 
years  1742  and  1743. 


32  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 


His  son,  Daniel  Olmsted,  one  of  ten  children, 
was  born  in  Bidgefield  September  22,  1731. 
In  1753  he  married  Elizabeth  Northrop,  who 
was  born  in  Milford,  Connecticut,  about  1735, 
and  died  April  30, 


CHAPTER  III 
IN  THE  REVOLUTION 

NO  battles  of  consequence  after  Con 
cord,   Lexington   and   Bunker   Hill, 
were  fought  on  New  England  soil, 
excepting  the  battles  of  Ridgefield  and  Ben- 
nington.     In  both  of  the  latter  instances,  as 
in  the  march  of  the  British  to  Concord,  their 
aim  was  to  secure  or  destroy  a  store  of  mili 
tary  supplies,  and  in  each  battle  the  Americans 
were  victorious. 

On  the  26th  day  of  April,  1777,  a  British 
force  under  Tryon,  the  Royalist  Governor  of 
New  York,  marched  inland  as  far  as  Danbury, 
Connecticut,  where  they  destroyed  not  only 
a  considerable  quantity  of  supplies  but  also 
the  principal  part  of  the  town.  The  his 
torian  Johnston  thus  describes1  what  fol 
lowed  : 

"There  were  some  Continental  soldiers  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  two  officers  of  rank, 
Wooster  and  Arnold.  The  latter  rallied  all 


i  Johnston's  Connecticut,  p.  304. 
1  (33) 


34  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

the  men  available,  regulars  and  militia,  and 
headed  Tryon  on  his  retreat,  at  Ridgefield 
(a  few  miles  south  of  Danbury).  In  the 
battle  Wooster  was  mortally  wounded,  and 
Tryon  broke  through  and  resumed  his  way 
to  the  Sound.  Arnold  kept  up  the  pursuit 
until  the  British  took  refuge  on  the  shipping 
and  sailed  away." 

Daniel  Olmsted,  then  about  forty-six  years 
of  age,  was  one  of  the  six  hundred  Continental 
soldiers  who  rallied  under  Arnold  that  April 
day  to  throw  up  a  barricade  at  the  cross 
roads  in  Ridgefield,  and  give  battle  to  the 
British.  The  representation  that  they  were 
rallied  by  Arnold  is  not  historically  accurate. 
In  fact,  the  reverse  is  true.  Arnold  was  a 
native  of  Norwalk,  and  happened  to  be  a 
visitor  in  a  neighboring  town.  Captain 
Isaac  Hines,  of  Colonel  Nehemiah  Bardsley's 
regiment,  commanded  the  militia  company  at 
Ridgefield,  and  as  soon  as  he  learned  of  the 
British  raid  upon  Danbury,  nothing  is  more 
probable  than  that  he  sent  for  both  Arnold 
and  Wooster.  But  how  were  the  soldiers 
rallied?  Who  played  the  part  of  Paul  Revere 
and  carried  the  alarm  to  Fairfield,  Bedford 
and  Norwalk?  It  was  Daniel  Olmsted  who 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  S5 

mounted  his  horse  and  rode.1  He  was  a 
private  in  Captain  Hines'  Company,  and  had 
already  been  put  to  test  as  a  guard  over  a 
group  of  his  Tory  neighbors  arrested  as 
"persons  inimical  to  the  United  States  of 
America."2 

Accelerated,  doubtless,  by  this  British  raid 
upon  Danbury,  the  destruction  of  property 
along  its  course,  and  continued  danger  of  like 
hostile  invasion  from  the  ports  of  the  Sound,8 
a  considerable  number  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Ridgefield  and  its  vicinity  decided  upon  a 
removal  of  their  families  westward  to  some 
settlement  beyond  the  Hudson,  and  Stillwater, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Ballston,  in  the  county 
of  Albany  (now  Saratoga),  New  York,  was 
chosen  as  the  destination.  The  historian  of 
Saratoga  County  refers  to  the  settlement  of 
Ballston  as  "just  about  coeval  with  the 
removal  of  the  Connecticut  colony  to  Still- 
water."4  Among  these  colonists  was  the 
family  of  Daniel  Olmsted,  and  there  is  good 
ground  for  presumption  that  he  was  a  leader 
in  the  movement.  The  death  of  his  father  had 

»  Daniel  Olmsted  may  not  have  been  the  only  messenger,  but  his  own  service  ii 
attested  in  the  pay  abstract  of  the  company  for  horse  travel. — Connecticut  Historical 
Society  Collections,  Vol.  VIII :200. 

»  Connecticut  Archives,  Rev.  1st  Ser.  VIII:216. 

•  An  apprehension  verified  by  Tryon's  destruction  of  Nor  walk,  July  11,  1779. 

'  History  of  Saratoga  County  by  Sylvester  (1878),  p.  246 


36  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

broken  the  last  parental  tie,  and  two  of  his 
children  were  in  their  infancy.  Moreover, 
for  many  years  the  Connecticut  Colony  had 
become  aware  of  the  wealth  of  material 
resources  lying  along  the  headwaters  of  the 
Susquehanna  and  Delaware,  within  its  royal 
grant.  It  was  twenty-three  years  (in  1753) 
before  his  father's  death  (though  Daniel  had 
then  but  just  passed  his  twenty-second  birth 
day)  when  the  Connecticut -Susquehanna 
Company  was  formed  to  purchase  the  Indian 
title  to  lands  on  the  waters  of  the  Susque 
hanna,  within  the  limits  of  the  Colony  of 
Connecticut.  The  company  was  composed 
of  eight  hundred  and  forty  persons  (afterwards 
increased  to  twelve  hundred),  and  included  a 
large  proportion  of  the  leading  men  of  the 
colony.  The  purchase  was  consummated, 
and  deed  procured,  dated  July  11,  1754. 
A  similar  association,  called  The  Delaware 
Company,  bought  the  Indian  title  to  all  land 
bounded  east  by  the  Delaware  River,  within 
the  forty-second  degree  of  latitude,  west  to 
the  line  of  the  Susquehanna  purchase  (which 
extended  ten  miles  east  of  that  river).  It  is 
not  improbable,  and  subsequent  events  afford 
support  to  the  view,  that  the  removal  to 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  37 

Ballston  was  but  a  step  towards  the  promised 
land.  Beyond  was  the  region  of  the  Iroquois, 
then  in  league  with  the  British.  The  Seneca 
and  other  hostile  tribes  were  on  the  war  path, 
and  a  reign  of  terror  among  the  white  settlers 
presently  culminated  in  the  Wyoming  mas 
sacre  on  the  30th  day  of  June,  1778. 

With  the  record  cited  relating  to  the  battle 
of  Ridgefield,  Daniel  Olmsted  passed  out  of 
service  in  Connecticut  as  a  soldier  of  the  War 
of  the  Revolution,  but  he  soon  afterwards 
reappeared  as  a  private  in  Captain  Thomas 
Hick's  Company  of  Colonel  Jacobus  Van 
Schoonhaven's  regiment  (Half  Moon  and 
Ballston  districts),1  and  subsequently  himself 
rose  to  a  captaincy.  No  account  remains  of 
the  meritorious  action  by  reason  of  which  he 
gained  promotion. 

Daniel  Olmsted  was  a  taxpayer  in  the 
Ballston  district  in  1779,  and  in  the  list  of  the 
31st  of  December  of  that  year  he  was  assessed 
a  tax  of  five  pounds  twelve  shillings  and  six 
pence  upon  a  valuation  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds.2  It  was  in  the  summer  of  that 

1  The  company  and  regiment  are  recited  in  Certificate  No.  19928  for  15a.  5$d., 
dated  7  November,  1779. — Certificates  of  Treasurer  (Manuscript  record),  <  Vol.  4, 
Mss.  section,  University  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Like  mention  on  list  in  office 
of  Adjutant  General,  United  States  War  Department  (2253205). 

*  Hittory  of  Saratoga  County,  by  Sylvester,  p.  250. 


38  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

year  that  the  expedition  of  General  Brodhead 
from  Fort  Pitt  to  destroy  the  Indian  villages 
on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Allegheny,  and 
the  expedition  of  General  Sullivan  northward 
through  the  Indian  country  of  central  New 
York,  came  almost  to  a  point  of  junction  near 
Olean.  The  Iroquois  fled  before  them,  but  a 
harassing  warfare  continued  year  after  year, 
receiving  encouragement  from  the  garrisons  of 
the  British  border  forts,  until,  on  the  20th  day 
of  August,  1794,  the  Northwestern  Indians 
were  routed  by  Mad  Anthony  Wayne  at  the 
battle  of  Fallen  Timbers.  This  was  almost 
immediately  followed  by  a  general  treaty  of 
peace  with  the  Indians,  and  emigration  from 
the  East  began  to  be  resumed. 


CHAPTER  IV 
ON  Two  FRONTIERS 


\\  7ITHOUT  delay  uP°n  the  close  of  his 

^/^  military  service,  Daniel  Olmsted  set 
out,  probably  alone,  for  the  country 
of  the  upper  Delaware.  Jay  Gould,  noted  as 
a  financier,  himself  a  native  of  Delaware 
County,  while  a  youthful  surveyor,  and  then 
a  resident  of  the  county,  wrote  its  history, 
though  he  afterwards  tried  to  suppress  the 
work  by  buying  up  the  printed  copies.  It 
was  published  in  1856.  It  contains  this 
passage  relating  to  the  pioneers: 

"The  following  information  in  relation  to 
the  early  settlements  was  derived  principally 
from  Cyrus  Burr,  a  highly  respectable  citizen 
of  Andes,  and  formerly  and  for  a  number  of 
years,  supervisor  of  that  town.  The  family  of 
Mr.  Burr  moved  into  the  county  in  1794,  and 
settled  in  what  was  then  called  Middletown, 
Ulster  County,  but  now  Andes,  Delaware 
County,  at  which  time  the  entire  town, 
except  a  few  farms  along  the  river,  was  one 
unbroken  wilderness.  The  first  farm  border- 
(39) 


40  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

ing  on  the  river  below  the  Middletown  line 
was  Owned  by  James  Phenix,  who  was  among 
the  first  that  emigrated  after  the  Revolution. 
He  had  occupied  the  place  before  the  war, 
but  had  retired  for  safety  during  that  period. 
A  man  by  the  name  of  Olmsted,  who  came  in 
about  the  same  time,  possessed  the  second 
farm." 

Presuming  the  latter  to  have  been  none 
other  than  Daniel  Olmsted,  he  must  have  soon 
relinquished  his  clearing  on  the  river,  for  he 
is  recorded  about  the  same  time  as  a  settler  a 
few  miles  farther  west  at  or  about  the  settle 
ment  afterwards  known  as  Masonville.  The 
Gazetteer  of  the  State  of  New  York,1  published 
in  1859,  mentions  Daniel  Farnsworth  and  one 
Pross  as  the  first  settlers  on  the  present  site 
of  Davenport  Center,  and  continues  as  follows: 
"Among  the  other  first  settlers  were  Hum 
phrey  Denio,  George  Webster,  Daniel  Olm 
sted,  Van  Yalkenburg,  Harmon  Moore 

and  Elisha  Orr."  Walter  Scott,  a  contributor 
to  the  county  history,2  referring  to  the  accred 
ited  priority  of  Farnsworth  and  Pross,  adds: 

"But  they  could  not  have  much  preceded 
Daniel  Olmsted,  who  settled  on  the  farm  now 


»  Page  260,  note  12. 

»  Centennial  History  of  Delaware  County,  p.  826 


ON  TWO  FRONTIERS  41 

occupied  by  the  widow  of  Chauncey  Olmsted, 
for  Mr.  Alexander  Shellman  informs  me  that 
his  grandfather  settled  near  the  old  Emmons 
hotel  east  of  Oneonta  about  1790,  and  that 
in  making  the  journey  to  Schoharie  the  Olm 
sted  settlement  was  the  first  one  passed. 
The  orchard  on  that  farm  is  said  to  be  the  old 
est  one  in  town." 

Masonville,  which  so  became  the  family 
settlement,  was  not  formally  set  apart  from 
Sidney  until  April  4,  1811.  The  town  took 
its  name  from  Rev.  John  M.  Mason,  the 
principal  owner  of  the  Evans  patent  of  lands 
in  this  town.  The  surface  of  the  region  may 
be  described  as  hilly  upland,  divided  into  two 
ridges  by  the  valley  of  Bennett's  Creek,  which 
extends  east  and  west  through  the  north 
part  of  the  town.  These  ridges  are  subdivided 
by  numerous  lateral  ravines,  through  which 
flow  small  brooks.  The  highest  summits  are 
from  six  hundred  to  one  thousand  feet  above 
the  valleys  and  eighteen  hundred  to  two  thou 
sand  feet  above  tide.  The  soil  is  of  shaly 
loam,  stony  and  difficult  of  cultivation  except 
in  the  valleys.  It  is  probable  that  the  com 
munity  itself  did  not  gain  a  population  exceed 
ing  one  hundred  during  the  lifetime  of 


42  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

Daniel  Olmsted.  His  wife  having  joined 
him  early  in  his  pioneer  pilgrimage,  the 
parental  home  was  maintained  at  Masonville 
during  the  remainder  of  their  respective  lives. 
They  had  nine  children,  all  of  whom  appear  to 
have  been  born  in  their  Connecticut  home, 
Molly,  the  youngest,  December  26,  1776,  and 
Seneca  about  a  year  earlier.1  Molly  married 
Lee,  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  removed  to 
Roxbury  in  Delaware  County,  three  years 
before  her  father's  death.  Seneca  grew  to 
manhood  at  the  parental  home  near  Ballston, 
and  not  far  from  Broadalbin  (organized  in 
1793,  now  in  Fulton  County),  gaining  such 
education  (mainly  that  of  experience  in  earn 
ing  a  livelihood)  as  a  pioneer  settlement  then 
afforded.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three  (about 
1798)  he  married  Elizabeth  Hicks,  presumed 
to  be  a  relative,  perhaps  a  daughter,  of  his 
father's  Revolutionary  captain  (Thomas 
Hicks),  and  they  almost  immediately  joined 
the  little  colony  at  Masonville,  and  established 
their  home  there. 
Daniel  Olmsted  died  February  7,  1806, 

iF.  S.  Hammond,  author  of  "Descendants  of  Captain  Richard  Olmsted,"  and 
an  accredited  contributor  to  the  "Genealogy  of  the  Olmsted  Family  in  America," 
in  which  valuable  work  a.  line  of  descent  through  Daniel's  brother,  Ezekiel,  has 
been  accepted,  writes,  January  21, 1918:  "Now  I  am  fully  convinced  that  there  is 
just  one  error  in  this,  and  that  the  name  of  Daniel  Olmsted,  Jr.,  should  be  substi 
tuted  for  Ezekiel  "  This  conclusion  is  abundantly  confirmed. 


ON  TWO  FRONTIERS  43 

leaving  to  survive  him  his  widow  and  several 
children,  including  Seneca,  who  had  succeeded 
his  father  as  a  leader  in  the  community. 
Seneca's  wife  did  not  long  survive.  She  died 
in  the  year  following,  and  thereupon  it  is 
probable  that  his  widowed  mother  came  to 
live  with  him  and  care  for  his  three  little 
children,  of  whom  the  eldest  was  but  eight 
years  of  age.  His  name  was  Daniel  (namesake 
of  his  grandfather),  and  he  was  born  August  2, 
1799.1  He  had  a  sister  Lucy2  and  a  brother, 
Gardner  Hicks.3  Seneca  Olmsted  is  said  to 
have  been  of  robust  frame,  and  possessed  of 
great  strength  of  mind  and  body.  He  and 
his  mother  exerted  a  very  positive  personal 
influence  in  Masonville  and  its  vicinity.  The 
first  church  in  the  town  was  formed  December 
7,  1811,  and  it  is  easily  to  be  believed  that 
they  were  influential  in  its  organization.  It 
was  of  the  denomination  founded  in  New 
England  by  Roger  Williams,  the  Baptist,  to 
which  the  Olmsted  family  has  most  generally 
and  continuously  adhered.  The  widow  of 


1  It  is  not  unlikely  that  Daniel  was  born  at  Providence,  Saratoga  County,  N.  Y., 
while  his  mother  was  on  a  visit  to  relatives  there,  since  the  Olmsted  Family  Genealogy 
(Ward)  mentions  Providence  as  his  birthplace. 

2  Lucy  grew  to  womanhood,  and  married  William  Rufus  Sanford,  of  Marion, 

•  Gardner  Hicks  Olmsted  accompanied  his  elder  brother  Daniel  to  Ulysse», 
Pennsylvania,  and  later  became  a  resident  of  Bennettsville,  New  York. 


44  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 


From  Sheafer's  Historical  Map  of  Pennsylvania  (by  permission  of 
the  Historical  Society  of  Penna.)  designed  to  show  Indian  names  of 
streams  and  villages  and  paths  of  travel.  No  Indian  village  or  path 
appears  to  have  existed  in  Tioga,  and  none  in  McKean  excepting 
the  one  here  shown  and  "Burnt  Houses"  on  the  western  border; 
though  in  the  latter  county  there  are  streams  named  Conondaw, 
Kinzua  and  Dunungwa. 

Said  Hon.  Charles  Tubbs,  in  his  historical  address  at  the  Lycoming 
Centennial:  "Northern  Pennsylvania  and  the  region  of  the  Alle 
gheny  was  a  hunting  ground  into  which  the  Senecas  descended  from 
the  seat  of  their  power  on  the  Genessee,  There  were  their  castles 
and  there  they  kindled  their  council  fires." 


ON  TWO  FRONTIERS  45 

Daniel  Olmsted  died  April  30,  1822.  His 
grandson,  Daniel,  who  was  then  twenty-three 
years  of  age,  became  the  head  of  the  family. 
On  the  first  day  of  the  following  May  (1823), 
he  married  Lucy  Ann  Schofield,  of  Masonville, 
born  August  18,  1807,  and  therefore  less  than 
seventeen  years  of  age,  daughter  of  Lewis  and 
Clarinda  (Young)  Schofield.  They  had  six 
children,  of  whom  the  two  eldest  were  born 
at  Masonville.  The  other  four  were  born  at 
the  later  home  of  the  family  in  Ulysses  town 
ship,  in  the  county  of  Potter  and  State  of 
Pennsylvania. 

Potter  County  is  one  of  the  Northern  Tier 
counties  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  New  York 
state  line  serves,  therefore,  as  its  northern 
boundary.  It  is  within  the  strip  claimed  by 
the  Connecticut-Susquehanna  Company,  along 
which  its  block-houses,  once  garrisoned,  were 
established  twenty  miles  apart.1  From  the 
day  that  Daniel  Olmsted,  with  the  infant 
Seneca,  took  his  departure  from  his  Connecti 
cut  home,  there  is  little  doubt  that  these 
lands  were  contemplated  as  the  ultimate 
destination  of  the  family.  Seneca  Olmsted 

*  The  block-house  in  Deerfield  Township,  Tioga  County,  Pennsylvania,  wag 
the  birth-place  of  F.  W.  Knox,  Esq.,  a  contemporary  and  business  associate  of  the 
subject  of  this  biography. 


46  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

and  his  son  Daniel  were  true  to  the  tradition. 
The  Olmsted  settlement,  which  became 
Masonville,  was  in  a  sense  en  route.  During 
the  period  of  their  residence  there,  the  long 
controversy  over  the  title  between  Connec 
ticut  and  Pennsylvania  continued.  The  Con 
necticut  claimants  under  the  Susquehanna 
Company  repudiated  the  decision  of  the 
congressional  tribunal  at  Trenton,  and  con 
tinued  their  surveys.  They  prepared  for 
resistance,  and  induced  General  Ethan  Allen, 
the  hero  of  Ticonderoga,  to  join  them.  But 
Pennsylvania,  by  successive  acts  of  assembly, 
and  the  exertion  of  the  power  of  the  state  in 
various  ways,  finally  triumphed,  and  in  the 
second  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
legislative  compromise  offered  by  Pennsyl 
vania  had  been  generally  accepted,  and  titles 
had  become  settled.1  So  the  father  and  son 


1  While  no  comprehensive  outline  of  this  controversy  can  be  here  given,  some 
aspects  of  it,  not  hitherto  noted,  are  worthy  of  attention.  By  the  Decree  of  the 
Council  of  Trenton,  created  by  Congress,  the  claim  of  Connecticut  to  the  land  in 
Pennsylvania  north  of  the  41st  degree  of  latitude  was  rejected.  But  the  Connecti 
cut  settlers  contended  that  the  decree  affected  only  the  controversy  between  the 
states,  and  was  in  no  sense  an  adjudication  of  the  claims  of  the  Susquehanna  Com 
pany.  Hence  they  ignored  the  decree,  and  the  company  proceeded  to  advance  its 
settlements.  A  state  of  civil  war  ensued.  The  state  administration  of  Pennsvl- 


theless,  as  late  as  February  18,  1795,  the  proprietors  under  the  Susquehanna  Com' 
pany,  to  the  number  of  twelve  hundred,  assembled  at  Athens,  and  took  further 
aggressive  action.  On  the  4th  day  of  April,  1799,  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature 
enacted  a  law  known  as  the  Compensation  Law-,  fixing  a  schedule  of  prices  per 
acre,  at  which,  upon  payment  to  the  state,  the  controverted  titles  might  be  con 
firmed,  supplemental  legislation  following  during  several  successive  sessions.  But 


ON  TWO  FRONTIERS 


47 


Townships  created  by  the  Connecticut-Susquehanna  Company  in 
1796.  Grant  of  Lorana  to  Joshua  Downer,  Ezekiel  Hyde  and 
Samuel  Ensign  (they  having  exhibited  sufficient  vouchers  of  pro 
prietorship)  signed  by  John  Franklin,  Simon  Spalding  and  Samuel 
Ensign,  Commissioners,  recorded  (survey  having  been  approved)  in 
Liber  F,  page  112,  of  the  Records  of  the  Susquehanna  Company. 

This  map  also  shows  the  Allegheny  Reservation  of  the  Seneca 
Indian  nation,  lying  across  the  river  one-half  mile  in  width  on  each 
side.  It  shows,  too,  the  Cornplanter  grant  of  1,000  acres. 


these  laws,  in  the  excited   state   of  the  public  mind,  did  not  meet  with  general 
acceptance. 

The  state  administration,  however,  under  the  leadership  of  William  Bingham, 
had  already  entered  upon  a  parallel  auxiliary  course.  Mr.  Bingham  was,  at  the 
time,  not  only  rated  as  the  wealthiest  citizen  of  Pennsylvania,  but  also  as  ita  most 
influential  political  figure,  having  been  a  delegate  in  the  Congress  of  1787,  and  a 
representative  of  the  government  abroad.  As  Speaker  of  the  JPennsylvania  House 
in  1791  and  President  of  the  Senate  in  1795,  he  was  in  a  position  of  advantage  to 
procure  desired  legislation.  The  plan  in  view  was  to  throw  Pennsylvania  settlers 
in  large  numbers  into  the  vacant  lands  in  advance  of  the  Susquehanna  Company, 
and  organize  local  governments  therein  under  the  laws  of  Pennsylvania.  Doubtless 
this  plan  was  conceived  conjointly  with  the  other  master  spirits  of  the  common 
wealth's  cause,  Timothy  Pickering,  Chief  Justice  McKean  and  Attorney  General 
Bradford,  but  Mr.  Bingham  entered  zealously  into  it.  By  Act  of  1792,  the  price 
of  these  lands  was  reduced,  and  upon  the  same  being  offered  for  sale,  he  became  the 
chief  purchaser,  particularly  in  Potter  and  adjoining  counties,  and  many  of  the 
warrants  so  purchased  by  him  in  1793  he  proceeded  to  sell  to  John  Keating  and  others 
who  actively  undertook  to  forward  settlements.  Thereupon  Mr.  Bingham  was  pro 
moted  immediately  from  the  speakership  of  the  State  Senate  to  a  seat  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  in  which  body  he  served  from  1795  to  1801,  during  which  period  he 
was  for  a  time  its  presiding  officer.  Meanwhile,  in  1799,  Thomas  McKean  became 
Governor,  and  proceeded  to  carry  out  the  pre-arrangement  for  the  establishment 
of  local  civil  administration.  But  actual  settlements  had  proceeded  so  slowly  that 
when  the  Act  of  1804  was  passed,  creating  Potter  and  its  companion  counties,  it 
was  absolutely  uninhabited.  A  further  important  step  was  to  be  taken.  Just  at 


48     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 


"East  and  West  Road,"  the  great  state  highway  designed  to 
bind  settlers  in  allegiance  to  Pennsylvania  who  claimed  homesteads 
under  Connecticut  title.  (See  note.) 

who  at  Masonville  had  watched  the  steps  of 
the  controversy,  again  turned  toward  the 
chosen  land.  The  Gushing  family  with  which 
they  were  closely  allied  preceded  them,  Samuel 
Gushing  becoming  one  of  the  first  county 
commissioners  of  Potter  County.  The  loca- 

fifty  years  later  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  was  constructed  to  bind  California  to 
the  Union,  so  in  1807  the  East  and  West  Road  was  projected  by  Act  of  Assembly  to 
be  built  from  a  point  "where  the  Coshecton  and  Great  Bend  Turnpike  passes  through 
the  Moosic  Mountains  thence  in  a  westerly  direction  to  the  western  boundary  of  the 
state."  It  was  such  an  assertion  of  the  immediate  and  beneficent  presence  of  the 
state  in  this  region  that  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  that,  as  the  construction  of  the 
road  progressed  through  the  counties  of  Bradford,  Tioga,  Potter  and  McKean,  it 
served  as  a  bond  to  hold  to  the  commonwealth  the  allegiance  of  the  settlers.  Thus, 
in  the  course  of  time,  the  sagacious  policy  of  Senator  JBingham  prevailed,  and  the 
title  contest  was  abandoned.  This  was  not  accomplished,  however,  without  some 
reaction.  As  late  as  1835  indignation  meetings  in  Bradford  County  held  up  the 
proprietors  as  "Our  lordly  European  and  American  landholders"  who  have  "monop 
olized  for  very  small  consideration  a  great  portion  of  the  land  in  Northern  Penn 
sylvania,  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  our  free  institutions,"  etc.,  and  it  was  resolved 
that  "until  the  trustees  of  the  Bingham  estate  establish  a  title  by  a  solemn  decision 
of  a  court  of  competent  jurisdiction,"  etc.,  "we  will  not  pay  another  dollar  to  them 
or  their  agents."  There  was  no  difficulty  nor  delay  in  procuring  judicial  recognition 
of  the  challenged  title. 

An  interesting  episode  in  this  controversy  was  afforded  by  the  entrance  of  Gen 
eral  Ethan  Allen.  After  the  Trenton  Decree  which  struck  down  the  claim  of  Con 
necticut  to  the  disputed  territory  it  was  the  plan  of  Colonel  John  Franklin,  the  able 
leader  of  the  Connecticut  claimants,  to  organize  the  Northern  Tier  of  Pennsylvania 
into  a  new  state.  To  this  end  he  summoned  to  his  aid  General  Allen,  who  had  just 
secured  statehood  for  Vermont.  He  came,  says  Heverly,  in  "  Bradford  Pioneer  and 
Patriot  Families"  (Vol.  I,  p.  178),  in  cocked  hat  and  feathers,  declaring  that  he  had 
made  one  state  and  "By  the  Eternal  God  and  the  Continental  Congress"  he  would 
make  another.  But  he  had  been  checkmated  by  Pickering,  at  whose  instance  the 
Pennsylvania  Legislature  had  created  the  disturbed  district  into  a  new  county, 
named  Luzerne,  a  measure  which  divided  the  followers  of  Franklin  and  frustrated 
his  plan. 


ON  TWO  FRONTIERS 


49 


tion  selected  was  about  one  hundred  ten 
miles  southwest  of  Masonville,  an  open  "Cat- 
skill  Region,"  according  to  the  geologist,  of 
which  the  present  borough  of  Lewisville  is 
near  the  center,  and  watered  by  Gushing  Creek 


Potter  County,  the  fountain-head  of  far-flowing  rivers. 

and  its  tributary  brooks.  It  is,  however,  not 
far  from  the  famous  crest,  for  along  the 
borders  of  the  township  streams  flow  diversely 
southward  to  Chesapeake  Bay,  northward  to 
Lake  Ontario  and  southwest  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  The  historian  writing  in  1880  said: 

"The  greater  part  of  the  township  is  still 
as  wild  as  it  was  when  the  pioneers  of  Pike 


50  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

Township  looked  in  upon  the  wilderness,  and 
nothing  less  than  the  necessities  of  the  future 
will  ever  lead  to  its  improvement."1 

Forty  years  earlier,  and  therefore  near  to  the 
date  of  the  Olmsted  settlement,  the  report  of 
the  State  Geological  Survey,  referring  to 
Potter  County  generally,  said: 

"It  remains  almost  what  it  was  a  century 
ago,  an  unbroken  forest  tenanted  by  the 
panther,  bear,  deer,  wolf  and  fox."2 

The  region  was  covered  with  pine  and 
hemlock  timber,  afterwards  to  become  of 
great  value.  The  soil  of  Ulysses  Township  is 
termed  Volusia,  and  is  especially  adapted  to 
dairy  farming,  and  to  the  cultivation  of  buck 
wheat  and  potatoes.3  When  an  unbroken 
sheet  of  ice,  say  two  thousand  feet  in  thick 
ness,  came  gliding  down  the  Canadian  slopes, 
it  found  a  barrier  in  the  mountainous  range 
which  had  been  lifted  into  the  air  along  the 
state  boundary  between  Olean  and  Salamanca. 
The  ice  thrown  off  on  either  hand,  as  by  a 
plowshare,  as  it  passed  away  from  the  eastern 
end  of  the  mountain  wall,  moved  southeast 

1  History  of  McKean,  Elk,  Cameron  and  Potter  (Beers  &  Co.). 
1  Report  of  Geological  Surety  of  Potter  County,  p.  65. 
>  Staff  College  Bulletin  No.  S. 


ON  TWO  FRONTIERS 


51 


A  prehistoric  battle-ground,  where  the  giant  glacier  met  the 
unconquerable  highlands  and  turned  aside.  The  line  of  crosses 
shows  the  path  of  the  terminal  moraine.  The  map  is  adapted 
from  the  Warren  Folio,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  after  Leverett,  who 
designed  to  show  the  probable  preglacial  drainage  of  Western  Pa. — 
(1)  Coudersport,  (2)  Smethport,  (3)  Warren,  (4)  Meadville,  (5) 
Franklin,  (6)  Pittsburgh,  (7)  Erie,  (8)  Dunkirk. 


52  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

across  the  county  of  Potter,  leaving  the  traces 
of  terminal  moraine  in  its  pathway.1  The 
mean  elevation  of  Ulysses  Township  above  sea 
level  is  about  1,700  feet.  Against  deadly 
drainage  of  fertility  in  all  directions  the  forest 
through  countless  years  had  stood  sentinel 
over  the  soil.2 

At  any  rate,  it  was  a  virgin  soil,  and  bore  its 
crown  of  pine.  To  the  family  at  Masonville, 
shut  in  by  its  hard  limitations,  Ulysses  seemed 
the  Eldorado  of  their  dreams. 


1  Geology  of  Oil  Region,  III,  p.  872. 

8  In  a  poem  by  James  Harcourt  West  entitled  "Detritus,"  there  are  some  fitting 
lines: 

"Could  they  who  till  the  Mississippi  vales — 
Through  thousand  thousand  leagues  far-stretched  and  fair — 
Know  well  what  wealth  of  distant  mountain  stair 
Has  crumbled  to  endow  their  verdant  dales; 
Could  they  but  hear  the  pounding  of  old  gales 
In  lands  of  Seneca  and  Crow  and  Bear, 
Or  count  the  centuries  the  sun  and  air 
Have  filched  from  forest-lands  with  silent  flails: 
Did  they  thus  ken  how  came  their  rich  black  earth, — 
By  grain  and  grain  from  Gardens  of  the  Gods, 
From  skyey  lines  far  yonder  out  of  reach 
Where  Allegheny,  Yellowstone,  have  birth, — 
What  new  luxuriance  would  star  their  sods, 
How  costlier  far  would  gleam  each  vine  and  peach  1" 


CHAPTER  V 

BOYHOOD  AND  SCHOOLDAYS 

IN  1836  Arthur  George  Olmsted,  the  youth 
to  whose  life-work  this  volume  is  devoted, 
was  nine  years  of  age.  He  and  his  elder 
brother  accompanied  his  father,  mother  and 
grandfather  in  their  final  pilgrimage.  There 
had  been  five  previous  stages  in  the  family 
migration  on  this  continent — from  Cambridge 
to  Hartford,  thence  to  Norwalk,  to  Ridge- 
field,  to  Ballston,  and  to  the  upper  waters  of 
the  Delaware.  All  had  been  accomplished 
on  foot  and  by  ox  teams,  through  wild  or 
sparsely  settled  forest  region.  As  again  the 
little  caravan  moved  away  from  the  village 
which  had  grown  up  around  their  own  home 
stead,  doubtless  they  looked  back  now  and 
then  as  long  as  the  spire  of  their  beloved 
meeting-house  could  be  seen  shining  white 
above  the  trees.  It  was  a  tedious  expedition, 
and  not  without  the  perils  incident  to  the  life 
of  the  pioneer,  but  in  due  time  the  destination 
was  reached,  and  there  the  home  was  estab- 

(53) 


54     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

lished  which  was  to  be  known  once  more  as 
Olmsted's  Corners. 

Four  years  later  the  township  was  created. 
It  had  twenty-nine  residents,  although  in 
1831  there  were  but  five  families  within  its 
borders.  During  the  first  year  (1837)  follow 
ing  the  arrival  of  the  Olmsted  family,  the 
first  school-house  was  built  and  the  first 
(Baptist)  church  organized.  When  the  church 
was  incorporated  (January  6,  1849),  Daniel 
Olmsted  was  one  of  the  trustees,  and  his 
brother,  Gardner  Hicks  Olmsted,  was  clerk 
and  also  a  trustee.  Here  Seneca  Olmsted 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  days,  and  lived 
to  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-six  years,  itself 
a  testimonial  to  the  simplicity  of  his  habits 
and  the  rectitude  of  his  life.  He  died  January 
23,  1860,  just  as  the  country  began  to  be 
stirred  with  the  mutterings  of  Southern  seces 
sion.  He  had  lived  to  see  his  son  Daniel,  with 
whom  he  lived,  become  a  representative 
citizen  of  the  county,  honored  and  respected 
in  the  community,  a  leader  in  the  church  and 
in  public  affairs,  and  his  grandchildren  grown 
to  manhood  and  womanhood,  excepting 
Seneca  Lewis,  his  namesake,  who  died  in  his 
minority,  and  Herbert  Gushing,  then  a  boy  of 


BOYHOOD  AND  SCHOOLDAYS    55 

fifteen.      Their   success   in   life   must   have 
cheered  his  declining  years.1 

His  son,  Daniel,  their  father,  was  from  the 
beginning  the  active  leader  of  the  Olmsted 
settlement.  The  village  of  Lewisville,  since 
incorporated  as  a  borough,  grew  up  near  the 
center  of  the  township,  and  in  1841  he  was 
appointed  postmaster,  the  office  retaining  the 
township  name,  Ulysses.  He  was  fortunate 
in  the  selection  of  a  homestead.  It  adjoined 
on  the  west  the  lands  of  Lucas  Gushing  (with 
whose  family,  also,  his  own  was  to  be  joined 
in  romance  and  wedlock),  and  embraced  one 
hundred  nineteen  acres.  It  was  a  part  of  the 
great  area  of  lands  of  William  Bingham  of 
Philadelphia,  and  is  described  as  Lot  No.  74, 
being  a  part  of  warrants  1261  and  1265.  He 
went  into  possession  under  contract  of  pur- 


i Henry  Jason  Olmsted,  born  at  MasonviUe,  Nov.  22,  1825,  married  May  14, 
1846,  Evalina  Theresa  Cushing  (born  Aug.  81,  1826),  daughter  of  Lucas  Cushing  of 
Ulysses.  They  removed  to  Coudersport  in  March,  1848.  He  served  as  prothonotary 
of  Potter  County  for  twenty-one  years. 

Arthur  George  Olmsted,  born  at  Masonville  September  SO,  1827,  herein  further 
mentioned. 

Sarah  Elizabeth,  born  June  15,  1830,  married  March  10,  1850,  Chauncey  G. 
Cushing  of  Lewisville  (Potter  Co.),  born  August  22,  1828,  died  Sept.  12,  1877,  son 
of  Lucas  Cushing — a  successful  merchant,  member  of  the  Baptist  society  and  super 
intendent  of  the  Sunday  School. 

Daniel  Edward  Olmsted,  born  May  30,  1832,  died  Dec.  29,  1900,  married  Aug. 
29,  1854,  Lydia  Laura  Cushing  (born  Sept.  30,  1835),  daughter  of  Lucas  and  Chloc 
(Wood)  Cushing.  A  prosperous  merchant  at  Coudersport  for  fifteen  years,  after 
wards  a  resident  of  Williamsport. 

Seneca  Lewis  Olmsted,  born  May  11,  1838,  died  Oct,  2,  1856. 

Herbert  Cushing  Olmsted,  of  Emporium,  Pa.,  born  Oct.  21,  1845,  married  Sept. 
10,  1865,  Martha  M.  Cushing  (born  Sept.  28,  1843,  died  May  28,  1905),  daughter  of 
Leavitt  and  Jane  (Goodrich)  Cushing. 


56  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

chase,  and  in  1849  took  title  by  deed.  In  1854 
and~1857  he  purchased  from  H.  H.  Dent  allot 
ments  of  forty-one  acres  and  fifty-two  acres, 
respectively,  both  in  the  township  of  Ulysses. 
Here  at  Ulysses  he  continued  to  reside 
until  the  death  of  his  wife,  which  occurred  in 
1865.  His  living  children  had  then  set  up 
their  own  households,  and  he  was  left  alone. 
The  home  which  had  for  many  years  echoed 
to  children's  voices  now  seemed  desolate, 
and  he  did  not  linger  in  it.  It  soon  passed 
into  other  hands.  In  the  following  year  he 
was  again  joined  in  marriage.  His  second 
wife  was  Jane  (Robertson)  Bennett,  daughter 
of  Jabez  Robertson  and  widow  of  Ira  Bennett. 
Thereupon  he  took  up  his  residence  with 
her  at  Bennettsville,  in  the  county  of  Che- 
nango,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  scarce 
three  miles  from  Masonville,  and  there  was 
his  last  home.  He  at  once  allied  himself 
with  the  Baptist  church  of  that  place.  The 
minutes  of  August  5, 1875,  cover  a  resolution 
to  unite  with  the  Baptist  church  of  Bain- 
bridge  (three  miles  distant).  The  resolution 
was  signed  by  Jane  Olmsted,  Daniel  Olmsted, 
G.  H.  Olmsted,  S.  G.  Scofield  and  others.1 

1  History  of  the  Counties  of  Chenango  and  Madison,  p.  179. 


BOYHOOD  AND  SCHOOLDAYS    57 

He  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-three  years  and 
two  months.  His  death  occurred  at  his  home 
in  Bennettsville,  October  2,  1882.  For  fifty- 
five  years  he  had  been  a  steadfast  and  exem 
plary  member  of  the  Baptist  church,  in  which 
he  held  the  office  of  deacon.  In  an  obituary 
notice  it  was  said  of  him  that  "he  possessed  a 
wonderfully  calm  and  well-poised  spirit. 
Hasty,  loud,  impatient  and  angry  utterances 
were  strangers  to  his  lips.  Those  who  knew 
him  best  observed  his  entire  freedom  from  the 
vice  of  evil  speaking.  Neither  was  it  pleasant 
for  you  to  pour  complaints  against  neighbors 
and  acquaintances  into  his  ears.  The  grave 
silence  with  which  they  were  received 
amounted  to  a  severe  rebuke  to  him  who 
spoke  the  evil."  And  again  it  was  said  that 
he  was  "noted  for  his  frugal  and  industrious 
habits,  and  his  kindly,  considerate  regard  for 
his  friends  and  neighbors."  The  oppor 
tunity  for  distinguished  service  had  not  come 
to  him.  It  was  something  to  have  led  an 
upright  life,  endured  many  hardships,  and 
to  have  lived  to  witness  the  success  and 
happiness  of  his  surviving  children.  His 
second  son,  Arthur,  had  already  risen  to 
distinction. 


58  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

Arthur's  boyhood  days  had  been  spent  with 
his  brothers  and  sisters  at  the  parental  fire 
side.  Alike  with  them  he  received  from  his 
father  and  mother  the  impress  of  their  strong, 
reverent  natures,  and  was  guided  by  the 
example  of  their  daily  lives.  He  and  his 
elder  brother  had  received  their  primary  edu 
cation  at  Masonville,  but  mainly  from  their 
parents  and  the  pastor  of  the  church,  the  era 
of  free  schools  in  New  York  not  having 
arrived.1  The  paramount  political  issue  in 
Pennsylvania  for  two  years  before  the  removal 
of  Daniel  Olmsted  and  his  family  to  Ulysses 
had  been  the  free  school  system.  The  inhabi 
tants  of  a  border  county  of  New  York  could 
hardly  have  been  ignorant  of  the  heroic  legis 
lative  battles  in  its  behalf  led  by  Governor 
Wolf  and  Governor  Ritner,  and  of  the  con 
trolling  speech  of  Thaddeus  Stevens  at  the 
crisis  of  the  debate.  The  successful  enact 
ment  of  the  measure  may  have  been  a  deciding 
circumstance,  and  one  which  served  to  hasten 
the  removal  to  Ulysses.  In  any  event,  within 
the  year  following  the  first  school  under  this 
system  was  opened  in  Ulysses.  It  was  con- 


» The  free  school  system  of  New  York  was  established  in  1887. 


BOYHOOD  AND  SCHOOLDAYS     59 

ducted  in  the  new  building  known  as  "  Daniel's 
schoolhouse."1 

Arthur's  boyhood  can  easily  be  imagined, 
its  Christmas  eves,  its  spelling  bees,  the  games 
of  winter  evenings,  the  summer  tramps.  It 
would  not  be  difficult  to  locate  the  swimming 
hole  and  the  stretch  of  still  water  which 
became  ice  in  the  skating  season.  He  was 
never  fond  of  hunting,  but  he  loved  to  troll  the 
brooks  for  trout.  Here  and  there  in  the 
neighborhood  was  a  young  bear,  a  tethered 
wolf,  a  pretty  deer,  getting  their  education  at 
the  hands  of  the  boys.  And  then  there  were 
the  athletic  games,  but  none  of  the  "national" 
brand,  and  no  moving  pictures,  excepting  such 
as  were  occasionally  afforded  by  a  runaway 
colt,  or  the  crashing  to  the  earth  of  some 
forest  monarch.  As  he  grew  older,  he  was 
called  to  assist  in  the  varied  work  of  the  farm, 
or  at  the  mills.  It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that 
he  made  the  most  of  the  opportunity  which  the 
district  school  afforded,  and  that  in  the  course 
of  ten  years  he  had  exhausted  its  resources  of 
learning,  and  was  supplementing  it  as  best  he 
could  by  wide  reading.  His  taste  of  knowl- 

1  "It  is  to  be  noted  that  when,  in  1835,  a  state-wide  vote  was  taken,  every  repre 
sented  district  in  Potter  County  voted  in  favor  of  accepting  the  system." — Wicker- 
•ham,  Eiitory  of  Education  in  Pennsylvania,  322. 


60     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

edge  had  made  him  hunger  constantly  for 
more,  and  he  had  the  intellectual  capacity  to 
assimilate  it.  About  this  time  the  Couder- 
sport  Academy  opened  for  the  reception  of 
pupils.  It  was  founded  by  John  Keating  in 
1807,  as  an  aid  for  the  building  of  the  town, 
and  to  promote  sales  of  land  in  the  vicinity. 
He  donated  a  square  in  Coudersport  as  a  site, 
and  five  hundred  dollars  towards  the  cost  of 
building,  also  one  hundred  acres  adjoining  the 
town  as  a  source  of  revenue  for  maintenance. 
But  it  was  not  until  1838  that  it  was  incor 
porated  and  receiving  aid  from  the  state. 
When  the  state  appropriations  were  discon 
tinued,  the  county  by  special  act  was  author 
ized  to  pay  at  first  two  hundred  dollars,  and 
afterwards  three  hundred  dollars,  towards 
running  expenses.  These  payments  by  the 
county  were  discontinued  in  1866.  Three 
years  later  the  whole  property  was  conveyed 
to  the  school  district  for  a  graded  school,  with 
a  high  school  department.  Like  academies  or 
secondary  schools,  as  at  Warren  and  Smeth- 
port,  were  established  at  the  most  populous 
centers  in  the  new  counties  of  the  Northern 
Tier.  In  fact  fourteen  other  academies  were 
incorporated  at  the  same  session,  and  in  1840 


BOYHOOD  AND  SCHOOLDAYS     61 

twenty-five.  The  multiplication  of  these 
institutions  resulted  in  the  substitution  of  the 
high  school  as  an  adjunct  of  the  common 
school  system.  As  late  as  1859  an  acad 
emy  building  was  erected  at  Lewisville,  and 
J.  A.  Cooper,  afterwards  for  many  years 
at  the  head  of  the  State  Normal  School 
at  Edinboro,  was  the  first  principal.  He 
conducted  it  successfully  until  1873,  when 
it  also  was  converted  into  a  graded  public 
school. 

In  1847  the  Coudersport  Academy  was 
regarded  as  an  excellent  institution.  It  was 
then  conducted  by  Mr.  A.  W.  Smith,  as 
superintendent,  "late  of  Union  College." 
The  Potter  Pioneer,  in  its  issue  of  the 
30th  of  October  of  that  year,  announces 
that  the  institution  has  received  the  fol 
lowing  new  apparatus:  a  celestial  and  ter 
restrial  globe,  an  air  pump,  an  electrical 
machine  and  galvanic  battery,  a  microscope 
and  lenses,  together  with  chemical  appa 
ratus.  "With  these  advantages,  which 
are  superior  to  any  in  Northern  Penn 
sylvania,  the  trustees  confidently  hope  that 
the  '  Halls  of  the  Institution'  will  be 
filled  with  youth  who  may  seek  and 


62  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

acquire  the  lasting  benefits  of  education  and 
knowledge."1 

Arthur  was  ambitious  to  be  enrolled  as  a 
pupil  at  the  academy.  But  were  not  the 
obstacles  insurmountable?  It  was  sixteen 
miles  through  the  forest  from  Ulysses  to 
Coudersport,  and  the  road  was  little  more  than 
a  trail.  A  daily  trip  was  clearly  impracticable. 
But  a  plan  was  finally  arranged  to  which  his 
father  consented.  He  was  to  make  the 
journey  weekly,  walking  in  on  Monday,  and 
home  again  on  Saturday,  and  earn  his  board 
during  the  week  by  doing  chores  in  town. 
His  parents  knew  the  warp  and  woof  of  the 
boy's  character.  They  had  no  fear  of  temp 
tations  in  the  town,  only  of  the  wild  beasts 
on  the  way.  But  he  was  fearless  and  strong, 
and  eager  to  begin.  So  this  new  door  of 
learning  was  unlocked  to  him,  and  he  made 
the  weekly  jaunt  without  untoward  incident. 

1  Included  in  the  notice  were  the  Terms  of  Tuition: 

Reading,  Writing,  Orthography  and  Arithmetic $1 .50 

English  Grammar,  Bookkeeping,  Rhetoric  and  Philosophy 2  00 

Chemistry,  Botany,  Astronomy,  Geometry,  Algebra  and  Surveying  S .  00 

Greek,  Latin,  French  and    Drawing 4 . 00 

L.  F.  Maynard,  Secretary.     L.  D.  Spafford,  President. 

BOABD  OF  TRUSTEES 

William  T.  Jones  Lemuel  F.  Maynard 

Wm.  Crosby  Timothy  Ives 

Wm.  W.  McDougall  Lorenzo  D.  Spafford. 

In  the  standing  advertisement  the  following  year  the  pupil's  expenses  are  stated 
as  follows: 

Tuition  per  term,  from $1 . 50  to  $4 . 00 

Incidental  expenses .0.25 

Rate  for  board  per  week  in  private  families 1 . 00  to  $1 . 50 


BOYHOOD  AND  SCHOOLDAYS     63 

His  advancement  was  rapid.1  Principal  Smith 
was  succeeded  by  F.  W.  Knox,  of  Wellsboro, 
who  afterwards  became  a  prominent  member 
of  the  Potter  County  bar. 

i  "Even  as  a  young  man,"  says  the  Potter  Journal  (Sept.  23, 1914),  "he  was  con 
ceded  to  be  one  of  the  best  informed  men  in  the  county." 


CHAPTER   VI 

LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE 

STUDENT  OLMSTED  had  early  chosen 
his  profession.  Perhaps  his  teacher 
had  guided  him  to  a  choice.  Influential 
friends  of  his  father  were  already  at  the 
bar  in  Coudersport.  Hon.  John  S.  Mann 
was  its  most  distinguished  member.  More 
over,  he  was  a  champion  of  the  prohibition 
of  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor,  and  an 
advocate  of  the  abolition  of  chattel  slavery. 
It  was  arranged  that  Arthur  should  be 
admitted  as  a  student  in  Mr.  Mann's  office. 
So,  at  the  conclusion  of  his  academic  course, 
in  1848,  he  began  the  study  of  law,  and 
necessarily  became  a  resident  of  Coudersport. 
In  the  same  year  his  elder  brother,  Henry, 
removed  to  the  county  seat,  and  three  years 
later  was  elected  prothonotary,  register  and 
"recorder.  Thus  to  Arthur,  more  than  ever, 
Coudersport  became  his  home  town.  He 
availed  himself  of  the  advantages  of  the 
public  library,  which  came  into  existence 

(64) 


LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE    65 

about  that  time,  and,  although  then  far  from 
adequate,  became  the  nucleus  for  the  sub 
stantial  public  library  for  which,  in  later 
years,  he  made  liberal  provision.  In  these 
earlier  days  the  library  sought  to  make  itself 
felt,  not  only  through  the  circulation  of  books, 
but  also  by  occasional  literary  entertainments. 
Mr.  Mann's  law  student,  during  his  academic 
course,  gained  a  circle  of  friends  in  Couders- 
port,  and  soon  became  more  generally  known 
for  the  breadth  of  his  knowledge  and  for  his 
intellectual  acumen.  He  was  not  reluctant  to 
take  part  in  the  Library  Course,  and  chose  for 
the  subject  of  his  lecture  "Science,  its  Origin 
and  Progress,"  a  subject  which  betokened  his 
interest  in  the  academy's  advertised  equip 
ment  of  globes,  batteries  and  microscopes. 
It  was  in  the  winter  of  1849.  Coudersport 
then  contained  less  than  one  nundred  tax 
payers.  But  there  was  a  goodly  attendance 
at  the  meeting.  It  was  held  in  the  old  court 
house,  built  in  1834,  and  replaced  in  1853. 
The  personality  of  the  young  lecturer  drew 
the  audience  more  certainly  than  the  charm 
of  the  subject.  He  was  twenty-two  years  of 
age,  and  of  exemplary  habits.  He  had 
inherited  the  superior  stature  of  his  lineage. 


66  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

His  features  were  of  classic  mold,  his  dark 
eyes  flashed,  his  voice  rang  out  clear,  his 
enunciation  was  distinct.  Doubtless  his 
brother  Henry  was  in  the  audience,  and  per 
chance  his  father  had  been  invited  to  town  for 
the  night.  The  lecture  was  carefully  pre 
pared.  Extracts  from  it  are  here  quoted,  not 
because  of  its  immediate  interest,  nor  of  its 
treatment  of  the  subject,  but  rather  as  a 
measure  of  the  young  orator's  intellectual 
quality,  his  power  of  expression,  and  the 
gravity  of  his  thought: 

"Created  by  a  Being  whose  very  essence  is 
knowledge  itself,  and  whose  works  are  order, 
perfection  and  science  combined,  man,  the 
most  wonderful  and  noble  of  them  all,  with 
mental  and  moral  endowments  only  second  to 
the  great  author  of  them — what  more  enno 
bling  to  his  character  and  more  in  accordance 
with  the  manifest  original  design  of  his 
Creator  than  a  thorough  knowledge  of  those 
great  and  fundamental  principles  which  by 
ordination  of  the  Supreme  Ruler  govern  and 
control  all  the  great  moral,  social  and  philo 
sophical  movements  that  are  constantly  tak 
ing  place  in  that  part  of  the  universe  with 
which  he  is  or  may  be  familiar  ...  I  have 
no  doubt  the  Almighty,  in  his  wisdom,  con 
fers  the  privileges  of  liberty  upon  any  people, 


LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE    67 

and  has  from  the  commencement  of  earth, 
in  just  as  liberal  a  measure  as  they  have  been 
able  to  receive  and  enjoy  .  .  .  Man  walks 
on  the  surface  of  a  sphere  whose  very  existence 
leads  him  to  study  and  meditation.  Plants 
are  springing  up  under  his  feet,  showers 
descend  to  water  them,  rivers,  supplied  by 
springs  that  never  dry,  carry  their  waters 
along  to  the  ocean  which  never  fills, — day 
light  and  darkness  succeed  each  other  in 
measured  portions,  and  orb  after  orb  in  silent 
grandeur  move  their  ceaseless  rounds  in  the 
great  conclave  above.  Unnumbered  beauties 
are  on  either  hand,  ever  varying  and  ever  new, 
and  constantly  exciting  his  innate  desire  to 
know,  and  inviting  him  to  thread  the  pleasant, 
though  laborious,  paths  of  Science  .  .  .  And 
what  is  mind  even  when  uncultivated?  A 
blank  upon  which  may  be  written  the  wisdom 
of  earth  and  heaven  in  fair  and  legible  lines, 
or  upon  which  may  be  made  a  disgraceful  blot 
and  stain  never  to  be  eradicated, — a  soil 
capable  of  producing  the  richest  and  most 
abundant  fruits  or  the  vilest  and  rankest 
weeds.  Science  is  the  cultivator  which 
enriches  that  soil,  sows  thereon  the  seeds  of 
virtue  and  truth,  and  causes  it  to  bring  forth 
abundantly  fruits  suitable  for  the  enjoyment 
of  beings  destined  to  a  glorious  immortality; 
but  without  that  cultivator  the  rank  weeds  of 
ignorance  flourish  upon  that  soil,  and  the 


68     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

mind  of  man,  that  noble  principle,  becomes 
choked  With  error  and  crippled  with  imbecil 
ity.  ...  It  is  well  established  that  1,856 
years  B.  C.,  or  more  than  3,700  years  ago,  a 
colony  of  Phoenicians,  who  were  at  that  time 
noted  navigators,  settled  on  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  under  Grachus,  their  leader, 
and  built  a  city  which  they  called  Argos. 
About  three  hundred  years  afterwards, 
Cecrops  founded  Athens,  and  gave  laws  to  the 
then  barbarous  native  Grecians.  Soon  after 
Cadmus,  another  Egyptian,  founded  the  city 
of  Thebes,  which,  according  to  Homer,  had 
one  hundred  gates,  and  introduced  the  Phoe 
nician  alphabet.  From  this  time  learning  and 
literature  began  to  be  cultivated,  and  at 
length  the  Grecians  became  the  most  learned 
and  enlightened  nation  the  world  had  ever 
witnessed." 

It  may  be  assumed  that  an  address  so 
scholarly  and  thoughtful  gave  to  the  speaker 
an  immediate  and  most  enviable  standing  in 
the  community. 

Meanwhile  great  moral  issues  were  pressing 
for  solution,  particularly  the  abolition  of 
slavery  and  resistance  to  the  liquor  evil.  The 
weekly  issue  of  the  New  York  Tribune  was 
finding  its  way  among  the  settlements  of  the 
Northern  Tier,  and  the  great  personality  of 


LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE    69 

Horace  Greeley  was  forming  on  the  political 
horizon  as  the  figure  of  Liberty.  The  flaming 
utterances  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison  and 
Gerrit  Smith  became  the  topics  of  the  fireside. 
Now,  too,  the  weekly  newspaper  brought 
occasional  report  of  the  lyceum  lectures  of 
John  B.  Gough,  and,  perchance,  the  text  of  his 
famous  apostrophe  to  a  glass  of  water  was 
heard  anew  in  the  declamations  of  the  school 
room.  This  very  year  the  temperance  move 
ment  was  inaugurated,  culminating  in  Good 
Templars  organizations,  to  be  succeeded  by 
the  Sons  of  Temperance.  Olmsted's  opinions 
on  these  questions  were  already  formed,  and 
he  was  outspoken  in  their  expression. 

Having  studied  law  assiduously,  he  was,  in 
1850,  admitted  to  the  bar,  Hon.  Horace 
Williston,  of  Wellsboro,  being  the  presiding 
judge.  The  bar  of  Coudersport  then  included 
Hon.  John  S.  Mann,  L.  F.  Maynard,  Wales  C. 
Butterworth,  Charles  B.  Cotter,  Isaac  Benson 
and  Edward  O.  Austin.  The  number  of  non 
resident  members  was  larger.  In  this  list 
were  Hon.  Orlo  J.  Hamlin,  John  E.  Niles, 
Hiram  Payne,  L.  B.  Cole,  Horace  Bliss,  James 
Gamble,  F.  B.  Hamlin,  A.  V.  Parsons,  S.  P. 
Johnson,  Benjamin  Bartholomew  and  Joseph 


70  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

Wilson.  Indeed,  it  was  not  unusual  for  mem 
bers  of  the  local  bar  to  establish  some  pro 
fessional  relation  with  prominent  attorneys 
in  older  counties.  Thus  Mr.  Benson's  card 
in  the  People's  Journal,  dated  March  3,  1848, 
advertises  that  through  him  the  services  of 
S.  P.  Johnson,  Esq.,  of  Warren,  may  be 
engaged.  Later  F.  W.  Knox,  Esq.,  advertises 
that  "a  lawyer  of  experience  and  ability  will 
be  associated"  with  him  in  prosecuting  all 
cases  committed  to  his  care. 

During  his  student  days,  in  the  conduct  of 
civil  and  criminal  cases,  before  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  in  the  preparation  of  contracts,  deeds 
and  wills,  as  well  as  in  matters  of  counsel, 
Arthur  Olmsted  had  gained  a  reputation  for 
his  legal  knowledge  and  ability,  and  it  rapidly 
spread  among  the  settlements,  for  the  inhabi 
tants  needing  legal  services  all  came  in  to  the 
county  seat,  there  being  no  lawyer  then 
practicing  elsewhere  in  the  county.  Besides, 
his  preceptor,  Mr.  Mann,  in  addition  to  his 
law  practice,  was,  as  he  then  advertised, 
engaged  in  the  sale  of  land  as  the  representa 
tive  of  the  owners  of  several  large  tracts,  and 
this  brought  to  his  office  many  settlers 
desiring  to  purchase  homesteads.  Hitherto, 


LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE    71 

criminal  offenses  had  been  prosecuted  by  a 
deputy  attorney  general  who  resided  at 
Williamsport  and  rode  a  circuit  of  coun 
ties.  Now,  in  1850,  in  the  fall  of  the 
year  of  Arthur  Olmsted's  admission  to 
the  bar,  and  when  he  had  but  just  passed 
his  twenty-third  birthday,  he  was  to  be 
elected  the  first  district  attorney  of  Potter 
County.  It  was  not  a  lucrative  oflSce.  In 
fact,  the  compensation  for  the  term  did  not 
exceed  fifty  dollars,  but  it  gave  the  officer 
not  only  some  professional  prestige,  but  also 
desirable  experience  in  the  trial  of  cases. 
At  this  stage  in  the  development  of  the 
county,  the  homesteads  purchased  by  settlers 
from  the  Bingham  and  Keating  agents  were 
generally  still  held  by  the  purchasers,  and 
consequently  few  questions  of  title  had  arisen. 
Sources  of  litigation  were  not  numerous.  In 
after  life  Arthur  Olmsted  was  heard  to  say  that 
his  professional  income  for  the  first  three  years 
of  his  practice  amounted  to  ninety  dollars. 

But  the  county  was  just  entering  upon  an 
era  of  material  development.  A  turnpike 
had  been  completed  between  Jersey  Shore  and 
Coudersport,  and  previously  a  post  route  from 
Jersey  Shore  to  Olean.  Hon.  Orlo  J.  Hamlin, 


72  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

then  representing  Potter  and  McKean  in  the 
House,  had  secured  a  large  appropriation 
($200,000)  for  construction  work  on  the  East 
and  West  Road  through  McKean  County,  and 
at  the  same  session  had  procured  the  enact 
ment  of  a  law  organizing  the  eighteenth 
judicial  district,  composed  of  the  counties  of 
Potter,  McKean,  Warren  and  Jefferson. 
Within  the  next  decade  other  events  of 
importance  were  to  occur.  A  stage  route  was 
to  be  established  between  Bellefonte  and 
Smethport,  and  the  Philadelphia  and  Erie,  as 
well  as  the  Sunbury  and  Erie  railroads,  were 
to  be  surveyed.  About  this  time  Ole  Bull 
purchased  from  John  F.  Cowan  eleven  thou 
sand  acres  near  the  southern  border  of  the 
county  now  included  in  Abbott  and  Steward- 
son  townships.  His  purpose  was  to  establish 
a  colony  for  his  countrymen,  a  number  of 
whom  arrived  and  organized  a  settlement,  in 
the  midst  of  which  he  built  a  castle.  There, 
as  if  directed  by  some  rare  instinct  to  the  con 
genial  intonation  of  the  primeval  forest,  again 
his  far-famed  fiddle 

"Sang  all  the  songs  it  knew 

And  learned  long  years  ago  within 
The  wood  in  which  it  grew.'* 


LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE    73 

But  it  was  a  pathetic  dream,  for  the  title  failed, 
and  ultimately  the  community  was  deserted. 
The  People's  Journal,  published  at  Couders- 
port,  September  24, 1852,  has  this  paragraph: 

"Ole  Bull1  passed  through  our  village  on 
Saturday,  on  his  way  to  Oleona,  the  new 
town  just  commenced  through  the  energy  and 
public  spirit  of  this  child  of  genius." 

Coudersport  was  truly  a  village  then. 
Although  its  location  was  doubtless  fixed  on  a 
map  in  Philadelphia  so  as  to  be  as  near  the 
center  of  the  county  as  topographical  condi 
tions  would  permit,  a  more  picturesque  site 
could  hardly  have  been  chosen.  Ten  miles 
from  its  source,  and  1,664  feet  above  tide,  the 
Allegheny  rapidly  crosses  its  streets  and 
winds  through  its  borders,  rippling  and  flash 
ing  in  the  sunlight,  on  its  way.  The  village 
was  as  a  jewel  set  in  the  comely  crown  of  the 
surrounding  hills.  Among  its  inhabitants  the 
varied  walks  were  represented.  The  cards  in 
the  weekly  newspaper,  the  People's  Journal, 
included  that  of  H.  S.  Heath,  physician; 
William  McDougall,  surveyor ;  Lucas  Gushing, 


1  Pond,  the  lyceum  bureau  manager,  says:  "  I  paid  Ole  Bull  $25,000  for  fifty 
concerts,  and  made  a  handsome  profit."  At  the  Boston  concert  the  poet  Long 
fellow  was  present,  and  the  sales  ran  up  to  $1,100,  in  addition  to  course  tickets. 


74  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OUMSTED 

temperance  hotel;  Joseph  Mann,  agent  of  the 
Oswayo  Lumber  Association,  and  Jones  and 
Storrs,  general  merchandise,  "opposite  north 
east  corner  of  Public  Square,"  and  in  the 
square  the  new  court-house  was  being  erected. 
The  names  of  the  editors,  William  W. 
McDougall  and  John  S.  Mann,  are  set  above 
the  motto:  "Fidelity  to  the  People,"  and 
among  the  editorials  was  a  stirring  exhortation 
for  subscriptions  to  the  stock  of  the  Couders- 
port  and  Wellsville  Plank  Road  Company: 

"Shall  the  road  be  built?  Or  shall  we 
permit  the  great  advantages  which  the  New 
York  and  Erie  Railroad  offer  to  us  to  escape 
us  for  want  of  energy  enough  to  build  a  plank 
road  from  this  village  to  the  state  line,  a  dis 
tance  of  nineteen  miles?" 

The  same  paper  contained  an  appeal  that 
the  county  should  be  represented  at  the 
National  Anti-Slavery  Convention  to  meet  at 
Cleveland  in  September:  "In  1848  there  were 
twelve  thousand  men  in  Pennsylvania  who 
refused  to  wear  the  collar  and  who  cast  their 
votes  for  Liberty.  Organization  is  the  only 
thing  that  will  cure  our  leading  politicians  of 
their  contemptible  and  cringing  subserviency 
to  the  Slave  Power." 


LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE    75 

Into  the  various  movements  of  the  people 
looking  to  the  development  of  the  material 
resources  of  the  county,  and  to  the  growth  and 
prosperity  of  Coudersport,  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  Arthur  Olmsted  entered  with  efficient 
helpfulness.  It  is  gratifying  to  note  that 
however  ardently  he  may  have  mingled  in  the 
social  life  of  the  community,  he  soon  became 
a  guiding  star  in  the  turbulent  storms  of 
reform  which  were  beginning  to  sweep  across 
the  country.  In  respect  to  measures  designed 
to  curb  intemperance  and  to  restrict  slavery, 
his  attitude  seemed  to  be  instinctively  right. 
It  could  have  been  guessed  before  it  was 
declared.  It  seemed  to  proceed  from  a  strong, 
native  religious  sense,  which  might  have  been 
traced  through  his  parentage  backward 
through  a  long,  progressive,  freedom-loving 
ancestral  line;  back  to  Hartford,  the  "Birth 
place  of  Democracy,"  in  the  days  of  Roger 
Williams;  back  to  the  landing  of  Hooker  and 
Stone,  and  their  declaration  of  independence; 
back  to  the  secret  conventicles  of  Old  Essex 
and  the  mental  enslavement  from  which  the 
forefathers  fled. 

During  the  September  term  of  court  in 
1853,  the  district  Baptist  Conference  was  held 


76  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

in  Coudersport,  and  Arthur  Olmsted,  then 
twenty -six  years  of  age,  was  invited  to  deliver 
the  principal  address.  He  chose  for  his 
subject:  "The  Christianity  Demanded  by 
the  Times,"  and  discussed  it  under  three 
heads:  1st,  an  intelligent  Christianity;  2d,  a 
practical  Christianity;  3d, an  earnest,  energetic 
Christianity.  Fortunately  the  text  of  this 
remarkable  address  has  been  well  preserved. 
Speaking  under  the  second  head  he  said: 

"There  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  the 
Church  when  piety  sought  retirement,  when 
the  Christian  thought  it  his  duty  to  retreat 
from  the  busy  scenes  of  active  life  and  seek  in 
solitary  vigils  and  fastings  and  prayer  that 
preparation  of  heart  which  would  especially 
recommend  him  to  the  favor  of  God.  Religion 
in  those  days  assumed  the  meditative,  the  con 
templative  form,  and  it  was  thought  that  the 
quietness  and  seclusion  of  the  cloister  and  the 
cell  are  especially  favorable  to  the  growth 
and  development  of  the  Christian  graces.  Nor 
would  I  take  it  upon  myself  to  pass  censure 
upon  the  peculiar  belief  of  the  religion  of  those 
times.  It  was  allowed,  and  we  may  suppose 
it  was  brought  about  by  the  Providence  of 
Heaven,  and  can  be  both  explained  and 
justified  by  considering  the  spiritual  necessi 
ties  of  that  age. 


LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE    77 

"But  the  demand  now  is  for  a  Christianity 
of  a  different  mold.  Quietism  will  not  meet 
the  requirements  of  present  exigencies.  Re 
ligion  is  called  on  to  lay  aside  the  loose  gown 
and  slippers  of  contemplative  retirement 
and  put  on  the  working-day  dress.  She  must 
go  out  into  the  crowded  streets  and  thronging 
thoroughfares,  enter  the  workshop  and  the 
counting  house,  walk  forth  'on  change,'  and 
visit  those  places  of  resort  'where  people 
most  do  congregate.'  She  must  mingle  in 
the  scenes  of  the  outward  world,  and  con 
descend  to  converse  familiarly  with  the  liv 
ing  men  of  the  present,  as  they  pursue  the 
business  and  occupations  of  everyday  life. 
We  have  a  deal  of  that  religion  that  goes  to 
meeting  on  Sundays,  but  not  enough  of  that 
which  lives  and  acts  during  the  week,  and  be 
assured  the  men  of  this  day  will  estimate  the 
value  of  our  religion  by  its  practical  results. 
....  They  would  acknowledge  that  the 
Gospel  system  was  a  most  sublime  and  beau 
tiful  body  of  divine  truth,  perhaps,  if  you 
could  persuade  them  to  study  and  examine  it; 
but  a  beautiful  action,  a  noble  deed  of 
charity,  an  instance  of  generous  forgiveness, 
at  once  challenges  their  attention  and  com 
mands  their  respect.  This  is  something  they 
can  appreciate,  and  when  the  Christianity  of 
today  shall  put  on  more  decisively  this  aspect, 
it  will  more  nearly  meet  the  demands  of  the 


78  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

times,  as  well  as  more  signally  indicate  its 
vital  reality. 

"It  must  be  confessed,  I  think,  by  those 
who  contemplate  the  present  condition  of 
the  Church,  that  there  is  in  it  a  disposition  to 
lay  too  much  stress  upon  the  belief  of  abstract 
dogmas  and  the  observance  of  heartless  and 
hollow  forms.  These  have  in  them  no  saving 
efficiency  or  living  power.  Nor  is  anything  to 
be  gained  to  the  cause  of  true  religion  in  this 
day  by  setting  them  up  as  the  test  and  stand 
ard  of  orthodox  piety.  Doctrinal  tests  and 
theological  disputes  have  had  their  time,  and 
have  accomplished  what  good  they  may.  It 
is  time  now  for  the  Christian  churches  to 
cease  their  intestinal  strife  and  war  of  words, 
and  that  she  turn  her  undivided  energies  to 
the  accomplishment  of  practical  good.  Let 
there  be  a  cessation  of  hostilities  upon  the 
Five  Points  of  Calvinism  and  a  hastening 
from  all  sides  to  cleanse  the  world  from  the 
Five  Points  of  Iniquity  in  which  the  world 
abounds.  When  the  Church  can  point  more 
confidently  to  instances  of  public  vices  cured 
and  social  evils  removed,  and  to  benevolent 
and  meliorating  reforms  carried  directly  by 
its  agency, — then  will  Religion,  of  which  it  is 
the  representative,  be  more  powerfully  recom 
mended  to  the  practical  mind  of  this  practical 
life."1 


llt  is  not  recorded  that  these  frank  utterances  produced  commotion  in  the 
conference,  and  yet  they  abound  with  the  same  views  which  expressed  today  (sixty- 


LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE    79 

That  was  the  clear,  commanding  voice  of  a 
leader  of  men,  one  who  had  a  vision  of  con 
tests  to  come,  and  who  foresaw  the  oppor 
tunity  and  mission  of  the  Church;  one  who 
had  spoken  of  the  Bible  as  "The  Heaven- 
descended  charter  of  Human  Rights."  He 
was  thinking  not  alone  of  the  impending 
struggle  against  slavery  in  the  South,  but  also 
of  that  slavery  in  the  North  which  the  rum 
power  was  fastening  upon  the  body  politic,  as 
well  as  upon  its  individual  victims.  It  was  a 
day  when  rum  ruled  along  the  frontiers,  in 
forest  and  in  camp.1  Where  did  Arthur 
Olmsted  stand,  with  his  future  before  him,  his 
talents  and  his  popularity  in  the  scales? 
He  was  asked  to  speak  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Sons  of  Temperance,  and  this  is  what  he 
said: 

"If  the  day  ever  comes  when  men  are 
brought  to  judgment  for  their  action  here, 
and  it  surely  will  come  if  God  is  true  to 


five  years  later)  by  another  noted  layman  of  the  Baptist  faith,  John  D.  Rockefeller, 
Jr.,  have  startled  the  church  and  aroused  much  controversy.  Mr.  Rockefeller,  por 
traying  the  "reborn  church,"  said:  "Its  test  would  be  a  life,  not  a  creed — what  a 
man  does,  not  what  he  professes, — what  he  is,  not  what  he  has;  its  object  to  promote 
applied  religion,  not  theoretical  religion.  Thus  would  develop  its  interest  in  all  the 
great  problems  of  human  life — industrial,  social  and  moral  problems.  ...  If  the 
Baptists  of  today  have  the  breadth,  the  tolerance,  and  the  courage  to  lay  aside  all 
non-essentials  and  will  stand  upon  the  platform  of  the  founders  of  the  church,  the 
Baptist  church  can  be  the  foundation  upon  which  the  Church  of  the  Living  God 
•hould  be  built."  (New  York  Herald.) 

1  About  that  time  there  were  in  Coudersport  three  licensed  hotels,  also  a  recti 
fying  establishment,  and  all  the  stores  but  one  sold  intoxicating  liquor. 


80  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

Justice,  let  me  stand  in  the  place  of  him  who 
has  defamed  his  neighbor  without  a  cause, — 
yes,  in  the  place  of  him  who  in  the  dead  mid 
night  hour  has  made  the  heavens  lurid  with 
the  flame  of  burning  mansions  of  men,  but 
deliver  me  from  the  doom  of  him  whose 
business  it  was  to  put  that  to  his  neighbor's 
lips  that  stole  away  his  brain.  ...  I  have 
often  thought  that  it  needed  no  argument 
whatever  to  make  the  law's  inconsistencies 
more  glaring.  It  simply  amounts  to  this: 
that  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  in  considera 
tion  of  a  certain  amount  in  dollars  and  cents 
paid  into  its  treasury,  grants  to  certain  indi 
viduals,  under  the  seal  of  its  respective 
courts,  the  right  to  follow  an  occupation  which 
increases  its  taxes,  beggars  its  citizens,  fills 
its  jails,  and  operates  as  a  wasting  pestilence 
throughout  all  its  boundaries;  twelve  good 
citizens  of  the  town  or  borough  being  required 
to  certify  that  the  individual  applicant  is  a  fit 
person  to  exercise  this  distinguished  privilege. 
It  would  seem  that  any  respectable  man 
could  ask  for  no  greater  libel  upon  his  char 
acter  than  the  certificate  of  twelve  men,  law 
ful  and  true,  of  his  own  vicinage,  that  he  is  the 
proper  character  to  do  such  deeds  of  infamy."1 


1  It  was  in  the  course  of  this  address  that  Mr.  Olmsted,  in  terms  of  the  keenest 
•arcasm,  advised  a  revision  of  the  current  form  of  petition  for  license  so  that  it  should 
read  as  follows: 
"To^the  Honorable  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  of  Potter  County: 

"The  petition  of  A.B.,  of  — Township,  county  aforesaid,  respectfully  show- 

eth,  that  he  occupies  a  commodious  house  in  the  county  and  township  above  men- 
tioned,  and  is  desirous  of  keeping  a  public  house  of  entertainment  therein.     He 


LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE    81 

While  an  address  of  such  powerful  eloquence 
would  have  been  a  potent  factor  for  the  cause 
of  temperance  if  it  had  been  delivered  at 
some  populous  center  of  the  commonwealth,  it 
was  not  wholly  lost  among  the  pines.  It  was 
well  calculated  to  stir  the  community,  and 
when  passed  by  word  of  mouth  from  settle 
ment  to  settlement,  to  stir  that  uprising 
against  the  license  law  which,  under  the  cham 
pionship  of  Hon.  John  S.  Mann,  culminated, 

therefore  prays  your  honors  to  grant  him  a  license  to  kill.  Your  petitioner  considers 
the  sword  as  an  antiquated  way  of  extinguishing  life.  There  is  a  savageness  about 
it  and  a  useless  effusion  of  blood.  Wounds  are  inconvenient  and  not  always  attended 
with  death.  I  wish  to  do  my  work  with  less  trouble  and  more  effectually. 

"Death  by  the  sword  is  an  unjust  and  partial  system;  it  affects  only  those  who 
are  drawn  up  in  battle  array.  It  falls  entirely  upon  one  sex.  According  to  the 
theory  of  Malthus,  there  are  more  human  beings  created  than  the  world  is  able  to 
maintain.  Therefore  it  is  necessary  that  a  part  be  cut  off  for  the  safety  and  sub- 
sistence  of  the  whole.  Now  as  there  are  full  as  many  women  in  the  world  as  men, 
some  process  of  diminution  ought  to  be  devised,  in  which  they  shall  bear  due  pro* 
portion.  I  petition,  therefore,  for  leave  to  kill  women  and  children  as  well  as  men. 
I  pray,  also,  that  power  may  be  given  me  to  enter  the  domestic  sanctuary,  and  to 
alay  by  the  fireside  as  well  as  on  the  battlefield. 

"And  may  it  please  your  honors,  none  reverence  more  than  ourselves  the  inven 
tion  of  gunpowder  as  an  expeditious  and  commodious  way  of  freeing  earth  of  her 
supernumeraries.  It  is  truly  admirable.  Nevertheless,  I  am  not  quite  satisfied  to 
adopt  it.  When  the  field  is  once  covered  with  the  dead,  the  thunder  of  the  cannon 
ceases.  Battles  are  not  of  frequent  occurrence.  I  prefer  to  use  an  agent  that  needs 
no  test,  and  that  night  and  day  may  follow  the  work  of  destruction.  Do  your 
honors  suggest,  then,  that  pestilence  and  famine  must  be  summoned  as  executors 
to  my  commission? 

"I  suppose  that  the  plague  may  be  imported,  and  we  know  that  it  has  produced 
great  effects.  The  cities  of  the  East  have  been  humbled  in  sackcloth  before  it,  and 
desolated  London  anciently  inscribed  with  the  red  cross  and  'Lord,  have  mercy 
upon  us'  the  doors  of  her  smitten  and  almost  tenantless  dwellings.  The  past  year, 
too,  the  opening  graves  of  our  own  land  told  how  fearful  was  even  the  lightest  foot 
step  of  the  destroyer  'walking  in  darkness.'  Famine  also  has  withered  whole 
nations.  They  have  blighted  and  faded  away,  stricken  through  for  want  of  the  fruits 
of  the  field,  but  earth  soon  renovated  herself  and  was  again  clothed  with  plenty. 
The  harvest  whitened  and  the  grape  filled  its  clusters.  The  flocks  that  had  vanished 
from  the  fold  returned,  and  the  herds  lowed  in  their  stalls.  Health  and  fulness  of 
bread  banished  away  every  trace  of  weeping  and  of  woe.  Not  only  is  the  dominion 
of  pestilence  and  famine  transient,  but  their  sway  is  also  restricted.  In  the  height 
of  their  power  they  kill  only  the  body.  They  have  no  authority  over  the  soul.  I 
desire  a  broader  commission.  I  request  liberty  to  kill  the  soul  as  well  as  the  body. 
What  tremendous  agent  do  you  then  seek,  before  which  the  ravages  of  war  and  pesti 
lence  and  famine  are  forgotten?  May  it  please  your  honor,  I  wish  for  a  license  to 
sell  intoxicating  drinks." 


82  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

eight  years  later,  in  the  passage  of  the  special 
prohibition  law  of  1860  for  the  county  of 
Potter. 

A  community  so  alert  as  Coudersport  was  in 
matters  of  moral  consequence  was  equally 
alive  to  intellectual  cultivation.  This  was 
betokened  by  the  existence  of  the  public 
library,  the  academy,  a  superior  weekly  news 
paper,  and  a  county  bar,  small  in  numbers, 
but  of  more  than  ordinary  rank.  The 
enthusiasm  of  professional  spirit  and  fellow 
ship  which  it  manifested  is  hardly  equaled  at 
the  present  day,  even  in  larger  places.  The 
court-house  was  the  forum,  not  only  for  the 
vindication  of  the  law,  but  it  served  also  as 
the  town  hall,  the  center  of  community  activi 
ties.  Here  lectures  were  not  infrequently 
delivered.  It  was  the  era  of  the  lyceum. 
In  the  first  half  dozen  years  of  the  latter  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  Arthur  Olmsted 
developed  apace.  In  the  careful  preparation 
of  numerous  addresses,  his  views  on  matters 
of  public  interest  became  fixed  and  definite. 
At  the  instance  of  the  bar  association  he  was 
invited  to  speak  on  "Law  Reform."  Ex 
tracts  from  his  address  are  here  reproduced, 
not  merely  because  of  the  intellectual  enter- 


LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE    83 

tainment  which  they  afford,  but  also  for  the 
reason  that  they  disclose  better  than  any 
words  of  description  his  mental  traits  and 
quality,  that  degree  of  scholarship,  acquired 
chiefly  by  private  study,  which  enabled  him  to 
command  historic  incident  in  appropriate 
setting,  and  because  it  shows  again  how  he 
made  every  subject  that  he  touched  alive  and 
burning  with  the  great  oncoming  struggle 
between  freedom  and  slavery: 

"We  propose  this  evening  to  take  a  sum 
mary  view  of  the  most  important  general 
reforms  which  have  been  effected  or  attempted 
in  England  from  the  period  of  the  French 
Revolution  down  to  the  present  time.  If 
any  ask  why  cross  the  Atlantic  for  a  theme, 
we  can  only  answer  that  the  people  of  the 
United  States  must  ever  be  interested  in  the 
political  history  of  Great  Britain.  We  have  a 
common  origin  and  an  identity  of  language. 
We  hold  similar  religious  opinions,  and  draw 
the  leading  principles  of  our  civil  institutions 
from  the  same  sources:  reading  the  same 
historic  pages;  and  while  recounting  the 
words  and  deeds  of  orators  and  statesmen, 
who  have  dignified  human  nature,  or  the 
achievements  of  warriors  who  have  filled  the 
world  with  their  fame  we  say:  *  These  were 
our  forefathers.'  The  sages  and  scholars  of 


84  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

both  nations  teach  the  youth  to  cherish  the 
wisdom  of  Alfred,  the  deductions  of  Bacon, 
the  discoveries  of  Newton,  the  philosophy  of 
Locke,  the  drama  of  Shakespeare,  and  the 
song  of  Milton  and  Byron  and  Wordsworth, 
as  the  heirlooms  of  the  whole  Anglo-Saxon 
family.  The  ties  of  blood  and  lineage  are 
strengthened  by  those  of  monetary  interest 
and  reciprocal  trade,  and  such  are  the 
resources  of  each  in  arts,  in  arms,  in  literature, 
in  commerce,  in  manufactures,  and  such  the 
ability  and  genius  of  their  great  men,  that  they 
must,  for  an  indefinite  period  of  time,  exert  a 
controlling  influence  on  the  destinies  of  the 
world.  Now,  when  viewed  in  a  less  attractive 
aspect,  can  America  be  indifferent  to  the 
condition  and  policy  of  her  transatlantic 
rival?  Enterprising,  ambitious  and  intrigu 
ing,  she  whitens  the  ocean  with  the  sails  of 
her  commerce;  she  sends  her  tradesmen  wher 
ever  the  marts  of  men  teem  with  traffic;  belt 
ing  the  earth  with  her  colonies,  clothing  its 
surface  with  her  forts,  and  anchoring  her 
navies  in  all  its  harbors,  she  rules  160,000,000 
of  men;  giving  law  not  only  to  cultivated 
and  refined  states,  but  to  dwarfed  and  hardy 
clans  that  shrivel  and  freeze  among  the  ices 
of  the  polar  regions,  and  to  swarthy  and 
languid  fighters  that  repose  in  the  orange 
groves,  or  pant  on  the  shrubless  sands  of  the 
desert  tropics.  With  retained  spies  in  half 


LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE    85 

the  courts  and  cabinets  in  Christendom,  she 
has,  for  a  century  and  a  half,  caused  or  par 
ticipated  in  all  the  wars  of  Europe,  Asia  and 
Africa,  while  by  her  arrogance,  diplomacy  or 
gold,  she  has  shaped  the  policies  of  the  com 
batants  to  the  promotion  of  her  own  ends. 
Ancient  Rome,  whose  name  was  the  synonym 
of  remorseless  power  and  boundless  conquest, 
could  not,  in  the  palmy  days  of  her  Caesars, 
vie  with  Great  Britain  in  the  extent  of  her 
possessions  and  the  strength  of  her  resources. 
An  American  orator  once  spoke  of  her  as 
'That  power  whose  morning  drumbeat  follow 
ing  the  sun  and  keeping  company  with  the 
hours,  daily  encircles  the  earth  with  one  con 
tinuous  and  unbroken  strain  of  the  martial 
airs  of  England.'  .  .  . 

"But  when  the  earthquake  shock  of  the 
French  Revolution  overthrew  a  throne 
rooted  to  the  soil  by  the  growth  of  a  thousand 
years,  all  Britain  felt  the  shock,  scales  fell  from 
all  eyes,  and  the  people  of  the  realm  discov 
ered  that  subjects  were  clothed  with  divine 
rights  as  well  as  kings,  and  that  the  divine 
rights  of  kings  and  the  divine  rights  of  hod- 
carriers  were  not  essentially  dissimilar,  and 
that  old  adage  of  Lord  Castleraugh,  which 
had  been  stereotyped  for  one  hundred  years: 
'That  the  people  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  laws  except  to  obey  them'  began  to  be 
doubted." 


86     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

Coming  finally  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
abolition  of  slavery  by  act  of  Parliament, 
allusion  was  made  to  Thomas  Clarkson  as  the 
father  of  the  movement  for  the  abolition  of  the 
slave  trade,  and  to  the  supporters  of  the  move 
ment  in  Parliament,  including  Wilberforce, 
Pitt,  Fox,  Burke,  O'Connell  and  Brown;  but 
upon  broaching  the  topic,  Mr.  Olmsted  said: 

"Perhaps  some  may  consider  an  apology 
due  this  audience  for  the  introduction  of  a 
subject  here  which  may  be  considered  as  hav 
ing  a  bearing  upon  American  politics;  but  to 
me  it  appears  a  reform  of  too  much  magni 
tude  to  be  passed  over  in  a  sketch  of  this  kind 
without  at  least  a  passing  notice." 

He  quoted  the  following  passage  from 
O'Connell's  eloquent  advocacy  of  the  act  of 
abolition: 

"I  am  for  speedy  and  immediate  abolition. 
I  care  not  what  caste,  creed  or  color  slavery 
may  assume.  I  am  for  its  total,  its  instant 
abolition,  whether  it  be  personal  or  political, 
mental  or  corporeal,  intellectual  or  spiritual. 
I  am  its  earnest  enemy.  I  enter  into  no  com 
promise  with  slavery.  I  am  for  justice  in 
the  name  of  humanity  and  according  to  the 
law  of  the  living  God." 


LYCEUM,  LIBRARY,  LAW-OFFICE    87 

Referring  to  the  statutory  abolition  of  the 
slave  trade  in  this  country,  Mr.  Olmsted  said 
it  was  true  that  it  had  been  abolished,  so  far 
as  the  forms  of  law  are  concerned,  "although," 
he  added,  "there  is  much  reason  to  suppose 
that  it  is  yet  carried  on  to  some  extent,  and 
undoubtedly  will  be,  for  so  long  as  the  exis 
tence  of  slavery  makes  a  demand  for  fresh 
cargos  of  human  agony,  so  long  will  incarnate 
fiends  be  found  who  will  brave  heaven,  earth 
and  hell  to  furnish  the  supply." 


CHAPTER  VII 

FOR  ABOLITION  AND  THE  UNION 

MR.  OLMSTED  had  already  actively 
engaged  in  the  anti-slavery  cause. 
Pursuant  to  the  Journal  editorial 
hereinbefore  quoted,  a  Free  Soil  Conven 
tion  met  at  the  court-house  on  the  17th  of 
September,  1851.  On  motion  of  O.  A. 
Lewis,  Dr.  H.  S.  Heath  was  elected  presi 
dent  and  Burrell  Lyman  and  Nelson  Clark, 
vice-presidents,  and  Arthur  G.  Olmsted  and 
Nelson  Jinks,  secretaries.  The  object  of 
the  convention  was  stated  by  John  S.  Mann  to 
be  the  election  of  delegates  to  the  National 
Free  Soil  convention  to  be  held  at  Cleveland 
on  the  24th  day  of  the  coming  September. 
The  following  persons  were  thereupon  elected: 
Joseph  C.  Allen,  Joseph  W.  Stevens,  S.  A. 
Slade,  Arthur  G.  Olmsted,  N.  B.  Beebe,  D.  N. 
Jinks,  W.  B.  Graves,  W.  C.  Butterworth,  W. 
M.  McDougal,  Thomas  Lewis,  Oliver  C. 
Warner,  T.  B.  McNamara,  A.  H.  Butterworth* 
Sala  Stevens  and  D.  C.  Chase. 

(88) 


ABOLITION  AND  THE  UNION     89 

On  motion  of  Arthur  G.  Olmsted,  a  com 
mittee  of  five  on  resolutions  was  appointed  by 
the  chair.  The  committee  presently  reported 
the  following  draft,  which  was  adopted.  It 
is  evident  that  these  resolutions  were  from 
the  hand  of  Mr.  Olmsted: 

"Resolved,  That  our  Fathers  ordained  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  in  order, 
among  other  great  national  objects,  to  estab 
lish  justice,  promote  the  general  welfare  and 
secure  the  blessings  of  liberty,  but  expressly 
denied  to  the  Federal  Government  which 
they  have  created  all  constitutional  power  to 
deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty  or  property 
without  due  process  of  law; 

"Resolved,  That  'due  process  of  law* 
includes  the  right  of  being  tried  in  open 
court  by  an  impartial  jury;  and  that  inas 
much  as  the  Act  of  Congress  commonly  called 
the  'Fugitive  Slave  Bill*  deprives  a  large 
class  of  American  citizens  of  their  liberty 
without  due  process  of  law,  therefore,  it  is 
unconstitutional; 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Federal 
Government  to  relieve  itself  from  all  responsi 
bility  for  the  extension  or  continuance  of  slav 
ery,  wherever  that  government  possesses  con 
stitutional  authority  to  legislate  on  that  sub 
ject;  and  it  is  thus  far  responsible  for  its 
existence;  .  .  . 


90     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OIMSTED 

"Resolved,  That  we  are  in  favor  of  land 
reform  in  its  broadest  sense:  that  every  family 
may  have  a  home,  exempt  from  levy  and  sale 
by  execution;  .  .  . 

"Resolved,  That  we  are  in  favor  of  a  thor 
ough  and  efficient  organization  of  all  the 
friends  of  freedom  in  Pennsylvania,  and  we 
suggest  to  the  delegates  from  this  state  to  the 
Cleveland  convention  the  propriety  of  mak 
ing  arrangements  for  a  state  convention  to 
meet  at  such  time  and  place  as  may  be  most 
conducive  to  our  cause;  .  .  . 

"Resolved,  That  we  will  oppose  the  propa- 
gandism  of  slavery  at  all  times,  in  all  places, 
by  all  honorable  means,  against  all  odds,  and 
without  compromise."1 

These  resolutions  are  here  transcribed  be 
cause  they  are  both  typical  and  historic.  The 
list  of  officers  and  delegates  chosen  by  this  con 
vention  may  well  constitute  a  county  roll  of 
honor.  The  anti-slavery  men  of  Potter  were 
laying  as  best  they  knew  the  foundations  of  a 
political  organization  which  should  some  day 
abolish  slavery.  The  Cleveland  convention, 
to  which  they  sent  delegates,  called  another 
national  convention,  to  be  held  some  months 
later,  and  the  latter  convention  demanded  the 


People't  Journal,  September  19,  1851. 


ABOLITION  AND  THE  UNION     91 

repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  free 
homes  for  the  people.  It  inscribed  on  its 
banner  "Free  soil,  free  speech,  free  labor  and 
free  men."  This  was  the  last  national  con 
vention  of  the  Free  Soil  party.  As  it  was  held 
in  Pennsylvania,  so  also  was  the  first  conven 
tion  of  the  Republican  party  into  which,  in 
1856,  the  Free  Soil  movement  was  absorbed. 
In  Seilhamer's  History  of  the  Republican 
party  it  is  said: 

"The  first  foundation  stone  of  the  Republi 
can  party  was  a  hurried  amendment  offered 
in  the  29th  Congress,  that  became  famous  as 
the  Wilmot  proviso."1 

The  bill  then  pending  was  to  appropriate 
two  million  dollars  for  the  use  of  the  President 
in  an  adjustment  of  the  boundary  line  with 
Mexico.  The  amendment  overshadowed  the 
bill.  It  was  the  outcome  of  a  hurried  con- 


1  Stanwood  in  his  History  of  Presidential  Elections  (p.  163)  says  the  Wilmot 
proviso  so  divided  the  Democratic  party  that  it  lost  the  election  of  1848. 

"Wilmot  was  in  his  first  session  of  his  term  in  Congress,  and  as  yet  entirely 
unknown  outside  of  the  district  that  had  chosen  him  as  its  representative.  He  was  a 
young  man  of  powerful  frame,  with  a  mind  that  partook  of  the  rugged  strength  of  big 
body.  His  most  noteworthy  qualities  were  his  strong  common  sense  and  nis  tena 
cious  courage.  He  was  able,  without  any  claims  to  brilliancy,  either  as  an  orator 
or  statesman.  As  a  speaker  he  was  clear,  incisive  and  sensible,  and  convinced  rather 
by  his  sincerity  than  his  eloquence." — Seilhamer's  History  Republican  Party,  Vol.  1, 
p.  2. 


In  the  beautiful  suburbs  of  the  town  may  be  seen  the  little  City  of  the  Silent, 
and  near  the  public  road  stands  the  simple  marble  headstone  of  the  grave  of  David 
Wilmot,  with  his  name  and  date  of  birth  and  death  on  the  inner  surface  and  on  the 

.  i  •.  __     t    .      . 1 1 •        ? M ]     AU_    *.^_A.     *J    AL*. 


outer  surface,  where  it  can  be  seen  by  every  passerby  is  inscribed  the  text  of  the 
Wilmot  proviso." — McClure's  Recollections  of  Half  a  Century,  p.  240. 


92  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

ference  between  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine; 
George  Rathbun,  Martin  Grover  and  Preston 
King,  of  New  York;  David  Wilmot,  of  Penn 
sylvania;  Jacob  Brinckerhoff  and  James  J. 
Faran,  of  Ohio,  and  Robert  McClelland,  of 
Michigan.  Of  these  men,  Hamlin  became 
Vice-President;  Grover,  representing  a  South 
ern  Tier  district,  including  the  counties  of 
Allegany  and  Steuben,  was  elevated  to  the 
bench,  and  Wilmot,  representing  the  Northern 
Tier  district,  adjoining  that  of  Grover,  and 
including  Potter,  Tioga,  Bradford  and  Sus- 
quehanna,  then  but  thirty -three  years  of  age, 
was,  along  with  Lincoln,  Sumner,  Banks, 
Wilson,  Clay  and  Giddings,  in  the  list  of 
unsuccessful  candidates  for  the  Vice-Presi 
dential  nomination.  He  was  temporary  chair 
man  of  the  Republican  convention  which 
nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  for  President. 
He  was  subsequently  elected  president  judge 
of  the  thirteenth  judicial  district  of  Penn 
sylvania,  and  later  a  Senator  of  the  United 
States  from  the  same  state.  The  Northern 
Tier  was  for  freedom  and  Wilmot  was  its 
chosen  leader.  As  the  proviso,  though  des 
tined  to  defeat,  was  the  anti-slavery  slogan 
which  ultimately  divided  the  Whig  and  Demo- 


ABOLITION  AND  THE  UNION     93 

cratic  parties,  so  Wilmot  was  himself  its 
personification.  When  he  came  to  Couders- 
port,  he  was  the  lion  of  the  day.  His  name 
was  given  to  one  of  its  municipal  allotments. 
Arthur  Olmsted  had  then  become  a  titled 
citizen  of  the  borough.  Indeed,  sooner  or 
later,  he  was  chosen  to  all  the  offices  of  honor 
in  the  gift  of  the  people:  school  director  in 
1854,  councilman  in  1855,  burgess  in  1860. 
On  the  10th  day  of  July,  1854,  Judge  Wilmot 
spoke  at  the  court-house  in  Coudersport. 
It  was  about  the  middle  of  that  decade, 
which  was  to  become  in  American  history  its 
great  period  of  debate  and  legislation.  Clay's 
Compromise  had  been  enacted,  California 
admitted,  and  the  territories  of  Utah  and 
New  Mexico  organized.  Webster's  conten 
tion  that  nature  unfitted  the  territories  for 
slavery,  and  that  it  was  useless  to  "re-enact 
the  will  of  God"  had  triumphed.  Now  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill  was  pending.  In  Penn 
sylvania  the  issue  was  complicated  by  the 
rapid  growth  of  the  American  or  Know- 
No  thing  party.  James  Pollock  was  its  stand 
ard-bearer  for  Governor.  The  anti-slavery 
sentiment  inclined  toward  him.  Arthur  Olm 
sted  was  not  deterred  from  his  support  by 


94     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

the  adherence  of  the  Know-Nothing  party. 
He  was  not  a  member  of  its  order.  He,  how 
ever,  expressed  sympathy  with  its  essential 
purpose,  so  far  as  it  aimed  to  avoid  the  danger 
arising  from  the  influx  of  an  element  incapable 
of  perfect  assimilation  with  native  citizen 
ship.  He  reviewed  the  development  of  the 
naturalization  laws,  discussed  the  several 
stages  of  their  enactment,  and  advocated 
further  restriction  upon  immigration. 

"This  order,"  said  he,  "although  it  may  be 
injurious  and  pestilential  in  its  effect,  yet  it 
differs  from  the  pestilence  in  this,  that 
although  it  waste  th  at  midnight,  it  walketh  not 
at  noon-day/'1 

Whatever  Judge  Wilmot  may  have  said  to 
the  eager  listeners  in  the  crowded  court-room 
on  that  July  day,  it  could  not  have  found 

» Regarded  as  a  political  organization,  Mr.  Olmsted  was  evidently  in  agreement 
with  Horace  Greeley,  who  said  of  it:  "It  may  last  through  the  next  presidential 
canvass,  but  hardly  longer  than  that.  It  would  seem  as  devoid  of  the  elements  of 
persistence  as  an  anti-cholera  or  an  antiseptic  potato  rot  party  would  be." — Stan- 
wood's  History  Presidential  Elections,  p.  193.  And  in  fact  before  the  next  presi 
dential  election  it  did  lose  its  momentum.  The  Republican  platform  of  1860  upon 
which  Lincoln  was  elected,  supported  by  Olmsted  and  Greeley  alike,  contained  this 
plank:  "That  the  Repubh'can  party  is  opposed  to  any  change  in  our  naturalization 
laws,  or  any  state  legislation  by  which  the  rights  of  citizenship  hitherto  accorded 
to  immigrants  from  foreign  lands  shall  be  abridged  or  impaired;  and  in  favor  of 
giving  a  full  and  efficient  protection  to  the  rights  of  all  classes  of  citizens,  whether 
native  or  naturalized,  both  at  home  and  abroad." 

Nevertheless,  Curtin,  who  was  then  a  candidate  for  Governor,  so  recognized 
the  strength  of  the  movement  in  Pennsylvania  that  he  feared  the  nomination  of 
Seward  (who  had  advocated  a  division  of  school  revenue),  and  with  Lane  of  Indiana 
turned  the  nomination  to  Lincoln. — McClure's  facolkctiom,  p.  218. 

In  later  years  Mr.  Olmsted  expressed  satisfaction  with  the  act  of  1906,  excluding 
anarchists  and  poiygamists. 


ABOLITION  AND  THE  UNION     95 

quicker  response  than  these  thrilling  sentences 
of  the  favorite  son  of  Potter,  the  boy  orator  of 
Coudersport: 

"We  had  a  mission  to  accomplish  once, 
and   every   American   was   inspired   by   its 
grandeur,  and  every  free  heart  throbbed  quick 
and  strong  with  emotion  at  the  name  of  the 
young  nation  in  the  west,  upon  whose  broad 
banner  was  inscribed  in  letters  of  living  light, 
'The  rights  of  the  people, '  and  eternal  opposi 
tion  to  the  blood-red  wrongs  of  aristocrats 
and  kings.     But  the  virtue  of  the  maiden 
nation  has  become  debauched,  her  morals 
corrupted,    her   sensibilities    deadened,    and 
freedom  is  no  longer  her  watchword;  upon  her 
soil  today  are  the  two  antagonistic  ideas  of 
freedom    and    oppression,    contending    with 
each  other  and  the  whole  power  of  the  admin 
istration  aiding  the  latter.  ...     It  seems  to 
me,  sir,  that  the  present  is  a  dangerous  crisis 
in  our  national  affairs.    That  power  which  has 
been  constantly  encroaching  and  increasing  in 
strength  since  1820  must  now  be  checked,  or 
the  consequences  may  be  fearful.     If  Kansas 
is  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  free  state,  it 
will  be  the  death  blow  of  chattel  slavery;   if 
the  reverse  should  be  the  result,  no  human 
foresight  can  discern  what  the  effect  may  be. 
We  are  just  entering  on  a  campaign  in  which 
there  is  to  be  but  one  issue.     Pennsylvania 


96  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

will  be  the  battle-ground  of  1856.1  .  .  .  Let 
every  man  swear  that  the  mountain  gorges 
and  vast  plains  of  Kansas  shall  be  free — free 
not  by  the  force  of  compact  broken  and 
trampled  in  the  dust,  but  free  by  the  force  of 
strong  arms  and  brave  hearts.  .  .  .  While 
I  speak,  telegraphic  dispatches  are  flying  to 
the  people  of  the  civilized  world  heralding 
new  tidings  of  still  greater  outrages.2  Each 
dispatch  adds  some  new  feature  to  this  tale 
of  awful  horrors.  The  city  of  Lawrence  has 
been  burned  to  the  ground.  Her  inhabitants 
have  been  driven  to  the  open  fields,  to  the 
forests,  to  the  mountains  like  the  martyrs  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  or  have  fallen  by  the 
hands  of  the  mob,  headed  by  United  States 
officers,  the  craven  emissaries  of  the  adminis 
tration,3  and  the  faithful  instruments  of  the 
party  it  represents  and  leads.  .  .  .  Now 
let  the  dumb  speak,  let  the  indignant  North 
proclaim  that  slavery  propagandism  is  for 
ever  at  an  end.  Aye,  let  slavery  herself  be 
dethroned.  I  speak  ex  cathedra  for  no  man. 
I  speak  but  for  myself.  If  slavery  has  any 
rights  under  the  constitution,  let  them  from 
from  this  day  be  ignored." 


1  The  contest  did  center  in  Pennsylvania.     Republicans  asserted  that  upward 
of  $150,000.00  were  collected  in  the  slave  states  and  sent  into  Pennsylvania. — 
McMaster,  VIII,  p.  274. 

2  This  was  the  struggle  between  the  "Free  Soil  Men"  who  had  emigrated  to 
Kansas  from  New  England,  aided  by  Abolition  Societies,  and  the  "Border  Ruffians, 
who  moved  in  from  the  South  to  make  Kansas  a  slave  state. 

*  Administration  of  President  Franklin  Pierce. 


ABOLITION  AND  THE  UNION     97 

Pollock  was  elected,  and  Arthur  Olmsted, 
on  the  llth  of  March,  1857,  received  courteous 
parchment  recognition  of  his  services  by 
appointment  as  one  of  the  Governor's  military 
aids -de-camp,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant- 
colonel. 

More  than  a  million  and  a  quarter  votes 
were  cast  for  Fremont  in  1856,  and  the  South 
began  to  take  alarm.  The  conviction  gained 
ground  that  slavery  could  only  be  saved  in  one 
way,  and  that  was  by  secession.  The  South 
began  to  dream  of  a  great  empire  around  that 
American  Mediterranean,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
holding  possession  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi.1  She  counted  upon  the  friendli 
ness  of  Europe.  England,  France  and  Spain 
were  not  averse  to  a  diminution  of  the  com 
mercial  power  of  the  republic,  and  looked 
with  favor  on  the  prospect  of  a  division.  Their 
alliance  to  seat  Maximilian  on  the  Mexican 
throne  was,  however,  to  be  thwarted  by  the 
diplomacy  of  Seward,  the  successive  steps  of 
which,  advancing  to  its  inevitable  conclusion, 
furnished  to  the  century  its  most  distinguished 
example  of  a  bloodless  national  triumph. 

This  decade  stands  out  in  American  history 

1  Draper's  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  Vol.  1,  p.  421. 
7 


98  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

distinct  from  all  others  for  further  significant 
events  of  national  consequence.  It  witnessed 
the  construction  of  the  transcontinental  rail 
road  binding  the  Union  from  shore  to  shore — 
the  construction  of  railroad  lines,  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  at  the  annual  average  rate 
of  two  thousand  miles — Perry's  visit  to  Japan, 
and  the  resulting  treaty;  the  rise  of  the 
French  republic;  the  tide  of  emigration  to 
the  California  gold  fields;  the  Homestead 
legislation;  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  the 
publication  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin.  It  was  the 
great  constructive  era,  exciting  the  imagina 
tion  and  stimulating  the  patriotism  of  young 
America,  who  in  its  marvelous  enterprises 
saw  the  unfolding  of  a  mighty  republic. 

In  1852  the  first  train  ran  through  from 
Philadelphia  to  Pittsburgh,  and  thereafter 
little  was  heard  of  the  scheme  to  add  to  the 
Union  a  new  state — the  State  of  Allegheny. 
Plans  were  on  foot  for  a  road  from  Sunbury  to 
Erie,  and  public  meetings  were  held  to  arouse 
the  interest  of  the  people  in  the  region 
affected,  and  to  obtain  subscriptions  to  the 
stock.  Some  years  earlier,  a  railroad  up  the 
Allegheny  across  the  Divide,  otherwise  known 
as  the  Allegheny  Plateau,  and  on  the  earliest 


ABOLITION  AND  THE  UNION     99 

maps  called  the  Endless  Mountains,  down 
Pine  Creek,  was  projected,  but,  owing  to  the 
wild  character  of  the  region  and  scarcity  of 
men,  was  abandoned.  The  enterprise  was, 
however,  revived  in  1856,  and  a  company  was 
chartered  under  the  name,  Jersey  Shore,  Pine 
Creek  and  State  Line  Railroad  Company. 
The  route  ran  diagonally  across  the  county  of 
Potter.  But  construction  was  delayed.  How 
could  the  representative  citizens  of  that 
county,  whose  support  was  indispensable, 
Mann,  Olmsted,  Ross  and  Knox,  give  to  the 
enterprise  requisite  attention  when  the  nation 
was  distracted  with  the  danger  of  disunion? 
The  serious  depression  in  the  Republican 
ranks  which  attended  the  defeat  of  Fremont 
in  the  Presidential  election  of  1856,  and  the 
state  of  the  Union,  as  it  then  appeared  to  Mr. 
Olmsted,  are  best  described  in  his  own  words. 
The  following  passages  are  extracts  from  a 
letter  written  by  him  to  his  brother  Henry, 
then  at  Harrisburg,  under  date  of  the  24th  of 
October,  1856: 

"The  result  in  the  state  was  most  aston 
ishing  and  disheartening.  It  seemed  to  cast 
a  general  gloom  over  the  Fremont  men  of 
this  vicinity.  ...  I  have  no  doubt  but  the 


100  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

Northern  Tier  of  counties  will  raise  Fremont 
above  the  state  ticket  three  thousand,  but, 
considering  the  despondency  in  other  sections 
of  the  state  and  the  Fillmore  disaffection,  it 
can  have  but  little  avail  towards  altering  the 
result.  ...  I  had  hoped  from  what  I  had 
gathered  from  the  newspapers  that  we  had  a 
majority  in  the  legislature  on  joint  ballot,  but 
even  that  poor  consolation  was  swept  away 
last  evening.  The  next  Congress  is  to  be  pro- 
slavery,  and,  with  a  pro-slavery  President,  the 
good  Lord  only  knows  what  grave  fillibuster- 
ing  schemes  may  be  accomplished  during  the 
next  four  years.  .  .  .  Wise  issues  a  procla 
mation  calling  on  the  militia  of  Virginia  to  be 
in  readiness  to  march  down  to  Old  Point 
Comfort  and  take  possession  of  the  United 
States  in  case  Fremont  is  elected.  The 
Southern  governors  meet  in  convention  and 
discuss  dissolution.  Almost  every  Southern 
newspaper  avows  treason.  Brooks,  Keith 
and  (illegible)  threaten  to  seize  the  treasury 
and  the  archives.  .  .  .  The  most  humiliating 
part  of  the  whole  thing  is  that  it  is  to  be 
successful." 

The  raid  of  John  Brown  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
his  capture,  trial  and  execution,  deepened 
public  excitement,  and  sectional  feeling  ap 
proached  the  sundering  point. 

Hoping  against  the   inevitable,   the  loyal 


ABOLITION  AND  THE  UNION  101 

sons  of  Potter  County  went  about  their 
accustomed  tasks.  The  great  forests  had 
already  begun  to  move  seaward, — more  truly 
than  "Birnam  wood  to  Dunsinane" — from 
many  a  pine-clad  slope  of  the  Northern  Tier, 
and  for  years  to  come,  the  branches  and 
tributaries  of  the  Susquehanna  were  to  be 
clogged  by  logs  running  wild  and  by  rafts  and 
booms.1  But  the  day  was  at  hand  when  the 
raft  was  to  become  historic  for  the  human 


^The  following  is  from  a  contemporary  description  of  a  "log  5am"  in  the  flood 
season :  "  A  log  catches  upon  a  rock  or  bar  in  such  a  manner  as  to  obstruct  the  chan 
nel,  other  logs  rapidly  collecting  about  it  until  the  entire  stream,  perhaps,  is  choked 
with  a  seemingly  inextricable  tangle  of  logs.  They  are  fixed  in  this  jam  in  every 
conceivable  position,  from  horizontal  and  criss-cross  to  perpendicular.  To  the 
uninitiated  it  would  seem  impossible  to  extricate  the  logs  from  their  tangle  with  the 
fierce  current  of  the  raging  stream  locking  them  together  as  in  a  vise;  but  now  comes 
as  cool  a  piece  of  pluck  and  skill  as  ever  was  seen  in  the  life  of  the  soldier  upon  the 
battlefield — the  professional  'jam-breaker,'  there  always  being  one  or  more  of 
these  experts  accompanying  the  drive  (frequently  those  who  Bave  learned  their 
trade  upon  the  turbulent  Aroostook  and  other  logging  streams  of  Maine).  One  of 
these  men,  divested  of  all  unnecessary  clothing,  but  with  his  feet  securely  spiked, 
jumps  upon  the  jam.  He  carries  his  pike  lever  with  him,  and  upon  this  instrument 
alone  he  is  to  win  the  victory  over  the  maddened  stream.  He  holds  his  life  in  his 
hand;  a  single  false  move  often  means  his  death,  but  he  is  cool  and  determined. 
It  is  known  to  veteran  jam-breakers  that  there  is  usually  one  log  in  the  mass  which, 
if  detached,  will  loosen  the  entire  jam  so  that  it  will  break  with  a  rush;  this  is  called 
the  'key-log.'  The  first  duty  of  the  jam-breaker  is  to  find  the  key-log;  this  found, 
he  goes  straight  to  work  to  loosen  it.  Other  men  have  to  be  called  upon  the  jam  to 
assist  him;  but  when  the  last  hitch  of  the  cant-hook  is  to  be  given  which  will  free 
the  key-log  (if  the  business  is  not  precipitated  by  some  unforeseen  event),  all  of 
the  men,  save  the  jam-breaker,  run  for  the  shore.  With  a  final  twist  of  his  lever  4 
the  log  springs  from  the  mass  of  writhing  logs  and  shoots  out  upon  the  current,  but 
not  so  quick  but  that  it  bears  a  living  freight.  The  jam-breaker,  with  the  agility 
of  a  cat,  strikes  the  spikes  of  his  boots  into  its  slippery  side,  and  is  leading  a  crashing, 
tearing  mass  of  logs  and  water  which  chase  madly  in  his  wake.  By  long  practice 
he  easily  balances  upon  the  rolling,  pitching  log,  which  he  gradually  works  to  the 
shallow  water  and  springs  ashore,  after,  perhaps,  riding  a  mile  or  more  upon  hia 
unstable  craft.  This  is  the  modus  operandi  of  breaking  a  jam  where  everything 
works  to  the  wish;  but  often  the  jam  breaks  at  an  inopportune  moment,  and  the 
men  are  hurled  here  and  there  into  the  seething  flood  animate  with  rushing  logs. 
If  all  come  out  of  the  peril  with  their  lives,  they  are  indeed  fortunate,  even  if  they 
have  fractured  limbs  or  contusions.  Woe  to  the  man  who  sinks  beneath  the  logs — 
they  close  above  him  and  he  is  crushed  or  drowned.  There  is  deadly  danger  lurking 
at  every  step,  from  the  felling  of  the  tree  in  its  native  wilds  until  the  logs  are  secured 
in  the  boom,  where  the  Potter  county  boy  leaves  them."— History  of  Potter  County, 
p.  987. 


102  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

freight  that  it  bore.  On  the  13th  of  April, 
1861,  General  Thomas  L.  Kane,  having  ob 
tained  authority  from  Governor  Curtin,  organ 
ized  a  rifle  regiment  which  assembled  on  the 
banks  of  the  Sinnemahoning,  and  took  passage 
for  Harrisburg  on  three  rafts,  upon  one  of 
which,  the  "flag  ship,"  they  set  up  a  green 
hickory  pole,  placed  above  it  a  bucktail,  and 
from  this  floated  the  flag  of  the  Union.  It 
soon  became  known  as  the  Bucktail  Regiment. 
It  included  volunteers  from  Potter  County. 
General  Kane  was  in  communication  with 
Olmsted  and  Mann,  pursuant  to  which  he 
came  to  Coudersport,  accompanied  by  Dr. 
S.  D.  Freeman  of  Smethport  and  F.  B. 
Hackett,  Esq.,  of  Emporium  (who  had  been 
a  student  in  Mr.  Olmsted's  office)  and  at  the 
close  of  an  enthusiastic  meeting  held  at  the 
court-house,  enlistments  were  received  and  a 
captain  elected. 

This  was  doubtless  the  occasion  referred  to 
by  M.  J.  Colcord,  editor  of  the  Potter  Journal, 
writing  in  1914  i1 

"The  writer's  first  distinct  recollection  of 
Arthur  G.  Olmsted  was  at  a  patriotic  rally 
near  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  when 

»  Potter  Journal,  September  23,  1914. 


ABOLITION  AND  THE  UNION  103 

Mr.  Olmsted  made  a  speech  on  the  court 
house  square  in  support  of  enlistment  to  put 
down  the  rebellion.  His  patriotic  fervor, 
flashing  forth  in  the  eloquent  address,  helped 
to  kindle  the  fires  that  lighted  the  hills  and 
valleys  of  Potter  County  with  a  patriotism  and 
devotion  to  the  Union  cause  unequaled  any 
where  in  the  North." 

While  individual  members  of  this  famous 
regiment  were  in  many  instances  subsequently 
assigned  to  other  commands,  it  made  an  unsur 
passed  record  for  Spartan  bravery.  It  is 
recorded  that  at  the  battle  of  Harrisonburg, 
Colonel  Kane,  with  104  men,  came  suddenly 
upon  four  Confederate  regiments  and  a  bat 
tery,  attacked  and  broke  their  line.  Upon 
recovering  from  their  surprise  the  Confederate 
regiments  prepared  to  advance  under  cover 
of  dense  woods.  It  was  then  that  Martin 
Kelly,  of  Elk,  like  Arnold  of  Winkelried, 
turning  to  Kane  said:  "Colonel  I  will  draw 
their  fire,"  and  stepping  forward  into  view 
received  a  shower  of  bullets  from  which  he  was 
to  die  next  day  "in  the  glory  of  war."  Not 
until  the  Confederate  General  Ashby  had 
been  killed,  and  his  forces  repulsed,  did  the 
Confederates  realize  that  they  had  been 


104   ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

engaged  in  battle  with  no  other  than  the 
deadly  Bucktail  Rifles.  This  celebrated  regi 
ment  lost  but  fifty-two  men  in  this  action, 
but  the  number  of  Confederates  killed  or 
wounded  was  five  hundred  fifty-nine.  Potter 
County  also  contributed  volunteers  to  the 
46th,  53d,  58th,  149th  and  210th  regiments  of 
Pennsylvania  Volunteer  Infantry,  also  to  the 
37th  and  85th  regiments  of  New  York. 

The  orator1  of  the  day  at  the  County 
Centennial  celebration  held  at  Coudersport  in 
1904,  truly  said: 

"In  no  part  of  the  North  was  more  patri 
otism  displayed  or  greater  sacrifice  made. 
According  to  its  strength,  no  county  con 
tributed  more  in  men  or  in  means.  One  in 
seven  of  all  her  inhabitants  went  forth  to 
battle  in  that  dread  struggle  in  which,  on 
either  side,  were  deeds  of  valor  to  be  remem 
bered  in  song  and  story  to  earth^s  remotest 
dky." 

It  has  been  elsewhere2  recorded  that  Potter 
County  furnished  more  soldiers  in  the  Civil 
War,  in  proportion  to  its  population,  than  any 
other  county  in  the  United  States.  The 

1  Hon.  Marlin  E.  Olmsted,  then  representing  in  Congress  the  18th  Congressional 
District  of  Pennsylvania,  re-elected  for  seven  successive  terms,  a  leading  member 
on  the  Republican  side,  son  of  Henry  J.  Olmsted. 

2  Potter  Journal. 


ABOLITION  AND  THE  UNION  105 

soldiers'  monument,  erected  on  the  court 
house  square,  bears  the  names  of  318  soldiers 
who  died  in  battle  or  from  wounds  received. 

Arthur  G.  Olmsted,  although  a  man  of 
splendid  stature,  suffered  at  times  through 
out  his  mature  years  from  maladies  incident  to 
an  intense  nervous  temperament,  which  dis 
qualified  him  from  military  service.  Never 
theless,  he  had  much  to  give.  His  rare  gifts 
of  oratory,  the  persuasive  power  of  his  elo 
quence  over  bodies  of  men,  his  knowledge  of 
the  great  issues  at  stake,  his  native  zeal  in 
his  country's  cause,  were  all  put  at  the  service 
of  the  Union. 

Hon.  J.  C.  Johnson,1  of  Emporium,  Penn 
sylvania,  writing  of  a  later  stage  of  the  civil 
conflict,  says: 

"I  distinctly  reciall  that  dark  period  of  the 
Civil  War:  after  McClellan's  Army  was 
driven  into  the  defenses  of  Washington,  and 
Lee  was  marching  his  victorious  legions 
towards  the  borders  of  our  own  state,  and 
under  such  pressure  Lincoln  had  called  for 
300,000  more  volunteers.  It  was  under  those 


1  Captain  J.  C.  Johnson,  the  writer  of  this  letter,  enlisted  in  Company  K,  149th 
regiment,  called  the  "New  Bucktails,"  commanded  by  Colonel  Roy  Stone,  only 
one-third  of  which  survived  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  two-thirds,  dead  and  wounded, 
having  been  left  on  the  field.  Walton  Dwight,  the  captain  of  the  company,  became 
lieutenant-colonel  August  29,  1862,  and  Captain  Johnson  was  then  promoted  from 
the  position  of  first  lieutenant  to  the  captaincy. 


106  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

circumstances  that  I  first  really  became 
acquainted  with  Judge  Olmsted.  I  was 
reading  law  in  F.  W.  Knox's  office  in  the 
summer,  and  occasionally  Judge  Olmsted 
took  me  with  him  to  the  trout  streams,  where 
he  loved  to  while  away  an  idle  hour  exercising 
his  expert  skill  in  fly  fishing.  I  recall  my 
youthful,  enthusiastic  admiration  of  him;  his 
kind,  indulgent  attention  to  my  callow  sug 
gestions  about  the  conduct  of  the  war,  and  his 
dark  and  gloomy  suggestions  of  the  conditions 
in  the  North  at  that  time.  It  was  then, 
August,  1862,  that  he,  with  Hon.  John  S. 
Mann,  Hon.  Isaac  Benson  and  F.  W.  Knox, 
went  with  Walton  Dwight  and  myself  out  to 
the  homes  of  the  people  in  Potter  County  to 
raise  volunteers.  We  held  meetings  in  the 
schoolhouses  and  churches,  and  in  a  short 
week  one  hundred  twenty-six  of  the  staunch 
and  reliable  men  of  Potter  county  responded  to 
the  call.  Judge  Olmsted  did  patriotic  service 
in  raising  that  company  of  volunteers,  and 
fitting  them  out,  and  in  securing  them  a 
bounty  of  $100  each,  and  he  followed  them 
with  watchful  care  and  interest  after  their 
departure  for  the  field,  and  ever  after  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  Judge  Olmsted  was  then 
a  prominent  figure  in  the  county,  and  his  pa 
triotic  appeals  moved  men,  as  the  quick  result 
of  raising  so  large  a  company  in  so  short  a  time 
under  the  sad  and  disheartening  conditions  of 


ABOLITION  AND  THE  UNION  107 

that  day  abundantly  testifies.  General  Kane 
was  then  in  the  field.  The  old  Bucktails  were 
then  serving  under  him.  Other  companies 
of  men  had  been  raised  in  Potter  County  and 
were  in  the  service.  The  part  Judge  Olm- 
sted  had  in  their  going  out  is  unknown  to  me, 
as  I  was  myself  new  to  Potter  County,  having 
been  there  only  since  June  of  1862.  Of 
course,  from  the  time  we  went  to  the  service 
until  I  was  discharged  in  1865,  my  knowledge 
of  Judge  Olmsted's  career  is  only  such  as  I 
have  derived  from  the  public  prints  and 
records.  On  my  return  he  was  in  the  legis 
lature.  ...  It  was  certainly  very  unfor 
tunate  that  physical  disability  prevented  his 
going  into  service  hi  the  field.  He  was  the 
material  to  make  a  general  of  then." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FROM  HOME  LIFE  TO  HARRISBURG 

MR.  OLMSTED'S  own  home  life  began 
in  1860.     On  the  eighth  of  May  of 
that  year  he  married  Ellen  Ross,1 
daughter  of  David  and  M.  A.   Ross,   and 
sister  of  Hon.   Sobieski  Ross,   subsequently 
representing  the  Coudersport  district  in  Con 
gress.      Her  father  was  of  Scotch  and  her 
mother  of  Puritan  ancestry.     They  removed 
from    Grafton,    New    Hampshire,    to    Penn- 

iThe  grandfather  of  Ellen  (Ross)  Olmsted  was  Thomas  Ross,  of  Billerica,  Mass. 
(son  of  Joseph  Ross,  of  Mason,  N.  H.).  He  was  baptized  Aug.  81,  1760,  according 
to  the  church  records  of  the  First  Cong.  Unitarian  Church  (Vital  Records  of 
Billerica,  p.  166;  Beer's  Hist.  Potter  Co.,  p.  1173),  and  joined  the  American  Army 
in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  from  Ashburnham,  Mass.,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years 
(Mass.  Military  Archives,  vol.  24,  p.  83;  vol.  23,  p.  200),  serving  from  May  17  to 
Dec.  1,  1776;  and  again  from  May  26,  1777,  to  May  26,  1780,  the  latter  service 
being  in  Col.  Rufus  Putnam's  regt.  (Mass.  Military  Archives,  vol.  5,  part  1,  p.  102; 
also  U.  S.  Pension  Bureau  Rev.  Record).  Three  years  later  he  married  Deborah 
Bond,  of  Ashburnham  (Vital  Records  of  Ashburnham)  and  removed  to  Hanover, 
N.  H.  There  he  reared  three  daughters  and  six  sons,  one  of  whom  (Isaac)  became 
a  member  of  the  Governor  'a  Council,  and  held  many  other  offices.  "David  went 
to  Pennsylvania"  (Gazetteer  of  Grafton  Co.,  N.  H.,  p.  320).  In  1827  he  married 
Mary  Ann  Knight  (daughter  of  John  and  Seclendia  (House)  Knight),  then  a  teacher 
at  Lymansville,  a  Potter  County  settlement.  Her  mother,  Seclendia  House,  was 
the  daughter  of  Jonathan  House,  of  Hanover,  N.  H.,  a  member  of  the  famous 
independent  military  organization,  recognized  by  Congress,,  and  known  in  Ameri 
can  history  as  the  "  Green  Mountain  Boys,"  which  Invaded  Canada  to  Montreal  in 
1776  (Vermont  Revolutionary  Rolls,  p.  635),  captured  Fort  Ticonderoga  under 
Ethan  Allen,  Crown  Point  under  Seth  Warner,  and  fought  at  Bennington  under 
Stark  (Vt.  Rev.  Rolls,  pp.  831,  832;  see  also  New  York  in  the  Revolution,  pp.  61, 
62).  Colonel  E.  M.  House,  known  as  the  personal  representative  of  President 
Wilson,  although  born  in  Texas,  is  of  the  same  New  England  ancestry. 

In  1819,  four  years  after  the  death  of  John  Knight,  Seclendia,  his  widow, 
married  John  L.  Car  tee  (Cartier),  a  pioneer,  whose  early  settlement,  known  as 
Cartee  Camp,  is  the  only  one  in  Potter  County  noted  OQ  Sheafer'a  Historical  Map. 
He  become  a  resident  of  Coudersport. 

(108) 


HOME  LIFE  TO  HARRISBURG    109 

sylvania  in  1820.  He  was  a  surveyor, 
but  for  several  years  was  engaged  in  the 
lumber  business  at  Ceres,  removing  to 
Coudersport  in  1827,  where  he  represented  the 
Bingham  estate.  Mr.  Olmsted  had  purchased 
the  residence  of  Dr.  Heath,  which  the  latter 
had  built  and  occupied  as  a  homestead,  and  it 
became  at  once  the  Olmsted  mansion.  It  is 
situated  on  the  principal  residence  street  near 
the  public  square,  and  through  all  the  vicissi 
tudes  of  the  years  is  still  regarded  as  the  most 
desirable  residence  in  the  community.  One 
child,  Nellie,  was  born  July  19, 1861,  who  grew 
to  womanhood  and  on  the  26th  day  of  Decem 
ber,  1893,  became  the  wife  of  William  F. 
DuBois,  then  principal  of  the  Coudersport 
High  School,  since  a  leading  lawyer  of  the 
Potter  bar.  They  reside  at  the  county  seat, 
and  have  one  child,  Arthur  William,  born 
January  14,  1897,  now  a  student  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.  But  two  chil 
dren  were  born  to  the  Olmsted  wedlock. 
The  birthday  of  the  son,  Robert  Arch  Olm 
sted,  was  June  21,  1877.  He  succeeded  to 
his  father's  business  affairs,  and  since  the 
latter's  death  has  entered  into  a  professional 
partnership  with  Mr.  DuBois.  He  married 


110     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

Kathryn  Fizzell,  daughter  of  William  and  Jane 
Fizzell,  of  Bradford,  Pennsylvania,  January  8, 
1907.  They  reside  in  the  parental  home 
stead  at  Coudersport,  though  latterly  their 
winter  residence  has  been  at  Southern  Pines, 
North  Carolina.  They  have  three  children: 
Arthur  George,  born  May  9,  1908;  Warren 
William,  born  May  19,  1910,  and  Margaret 
Ellen  McCloud,  born  August  23,  1912. 

During  the  period  of  political  reconstruction 
between  1856  and  1861,  Arthur  G.  Olmsted, 
though  yielding  often  to  the  demands  of 
public  occasions,  was  yet  able  to  devote  him 
self  to  his  profession.  Various  matters  inci 
dental  to  the  growth  of  the  county,  not  strictly 
professional,  but  requiring  legal  supervision, 
engaged  his  attention.  For  instance,  it  was 
in  1860  that  the  County  Agricultural  and 
Horticultural  Society  was  organized.  The 
dismemberment  of  the  county  by  cutting  off 
for  the  formation  of  Cameron  a  large  portion 
of  Portage  Township,  was  also  a  matter  of 
grave  concern.  His  law  office  at  this  period 
was  over  the  store  of  W.  T.  Jones  Bros,  on 
Main  Street.  His  practice  increased.  He 
rose  rapidly  to  the  front  rank  in  his  profession. 
The  election  of  Lincoln  having  been  followed 


HOME  LIFE  TO  HARRISBURG     111 

by  secession,  and  the  three  months' anticipated 
duration  of  the  war  having  been  spent  over  and 
over,  it  was  seen  that  the  war  was  not  only  to 
be  indefinitely  prolonged,  but  that  it  had 
become  formidable.  Upon  the  recurring  calls 
for  troops  it  was  recognized  that  the  success 
of  the  Union  cause  in  the  Northern  Tier 
depended  in  great  measure  upon  the  eloquent 
appeals  which  Mr.  Olmsted  was  putting  forth 
in  the  counties  of  Tioga,  Potter  and  McKean. 
He  had  become  to  the  loyal  people  of  these 
counties  the  man  of  the  hour.  It  was  pre 
sently  perceived  that  he  was  needed  at 
Harrisburg,  not  only  by  the  interests  of  the 
county,  but  also  by  the  Washington  adminis 
tration.  He  was  accordingly  elected  to  the 
General  Assembly  in  the  fall  of  1862. 

Anxiety  then  prevailed  throughout  the 
North.  McClellan  had  been  forced  to  retreat, 
and  was  simply  encamped,  apparently  inac 
tive,  over-estimating  the  forces  against  him, 
and  calling  for  excessive  reinforcements  and 
equipment.  Between  him  and  Halleck  there 
was  evident  estrangement.  The  garrison  at 
Washington  had  become  an  army  of  73,000 
men  under  Banks,  marking  time  and  doing 
guard  duty.  McClellan's  prolonged  inaction 


ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

wrought  upon  Lincoln's  patience  until  finally, 
on  the  6th  of  October,  he  gave  McClellan  a 
peremptory  order  to  move.  Meantime,  the 
enemy's  foraging  incursions  into  Pennsyl 
vania  as  far  as  Chambersburg  and  into  Mary 
land  past  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  had  put 
the  Union  commander  at  such  disadvantage 
that  he  was  unable  to  set  his  army  in  motion 
until  the  25th,  and  by  that  time  he  had  so 
lost  the  confidence  of  the  administration  and 
the  country,  that  before  encountering  the 
enemy  he  was  relieved  of  command  and 
succeeded  by  Burnside.  Mr.  Olmsted  had 
other  means  of  information  than  the  public 
journals.  He  had  occasional  letters  from  the 
front,  from  the  boys  who  had  gone,  as  it 
were,  upon  his  call.  The  subjoined  extracts 
are  from  an  exceedingly  graphic  and  penetrat 
ing  letter  written  to  him  by  Captain  J.  C. 
Johnson.  It  is  dated  at  Camp  McNeal, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  Headquarters  149th  Regi 
ment  P.  V.,  October  13,  1862; 

"Undoubtedly  you  want  to  know  the  state 
of  affairs  with  the  'Potter  Bucktails.'  Well, 
as  was  anticipated,  Capt.  Dwight  is  captain 
no  more.  That  extra  bar  fell  upon  my  shoul 
der  straps  as  the  crumbs  fell  into  the  hands 


HOME  LIFE  TO  HARRISBURG     113 

of  a  certain  hungry  man  of  olden  time  when 
Walt  was  elected  to  Lt.  Colonelcy  at  Harris- 
burg.  The  Colonel  is  popular,  and  the 
Potter  boys  are  good  soldiers.  .  .  .  Regi- 
mentally  weVe  been  floundering  in  red  tape 
snarls,  and  have  got  so  that  we  can  put  in  all 
the  dots  in  the  right  places  hi  muster  and 
pay  rolls,  and  can  find  all  the  offices  in  the 
city,  and  wait  all  day  for  an  audience  with 
out  swearing.  We've  done  nothing  at  drill 
for  ten  days — given  up  camp  guard — and 
are  set  at  hospital  gates  or  over  government 
board  piles,  to  keep  legless  soldiers  from 
running  away  and  old  women  from  stealing 
splinters.  I  suppose  we  are  to  be  kept  in  this 
way  until  the  mud  is  so  thick  we  can't  move. 
We  may  be  doing  government  great  service, 
but  I  don't  see  it. 

"All  the  country  within  this  great  chain  of 
forts  about  Washington  is  literally  covered 
with  soldiers,  and  brigades  of  officers  block 
up  the  streets  of  Washington.  Yet  they  stay 
here,  and  nobody  seems  concerned,  while 
Jeff  Davis  is  having  a  gay  old  tune  sweeping 
the  crops  of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and 
the  valley  down  into  Richmond,  and  stealing 
homespun  broadcloth  and  horses.  It  may  be 
all  right,  but  I  can't  see  it.  Nothing  is 
looked  for  more  anxiously  than  the  order 
'Forward,'  and  we  all  feel  ashamed  to  sit  here 
in  inglorious  idleness.  It  may  seem  bad 


114  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

management,  it  does  seem  so,  but  there  is 
no  use  lamenting.  No  one  but  old  Jeremiah 
ever  made  anything  out  of  lamentations,  and 
he  wouldn't  if  the  Lord  hadn't  been  on  his 
side.  It  is  no  business  of  Company  officers  to 
think, — Generals  for  strategy." 

Arriving  at  Harrisburg,  Mr.  Olmsted  found 
a  degree  of  confusion  there,  a  need  of  con 
centration  for  effective  support  of  the  admin 
istration  at  Washington.  More  than  once 
he  accompanied  members  of  the  House  and 
Senate  in  visits  to  the  Governor  to  urge 
measures  of  co-operation  with  the  President. 
In  subsequent  conversation  with  Captain 
E.  R.  Mayo,  of  the  Smethport  bar,  himself  a 
veteran  Union  soldier,  Mr.  Olmsted  is  re 
ported  to  have  said  that  while  Governor 
Curtin  has  been  called  "The  Great  War 
Governor,"  his  course  in  these  critical  days, 
taken  as  a  whole,  was  not  such  as  to  justify  the 
title.1  He  was,  however,  sufficiently  demon- 

1  In  the  legislative  session  of  1863  a  resolution  was  offered  in  the  House  approv 
ing  the  course  of  the  Governor  in  caring  for  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers,  and, 
after  amendment,  was  indefinitely  postponed. 

Early  in  June  of  that  year,  when  the  danger  of  Lee's  incursion  into  Pennsyl 
vania  became  apparent,  the  President  sent  out  to  the  neighboring  states  an  emer 
gency  call  for  troops.  To  the  Governor's  proclamation  about  25,000  volunteers 
responded,  but  because  they  did  not  come  prepared  for  the  term  enlistment  pre 
scribed  at  army  headquarters,  he  declined  to  muster  them  in,  and  issued  a  new  call. 
On  the  contrary,  the  New  York  and  New  Jersey  troops  were  received  as  they  came — 
for  the  emergency.  Before  Pennsylvania  volunteers  could  respond  to  the  second 
call,  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  had  been  fought.  Pennsylvania's  default  is  charged 
by  the  state  historian  (Egle — Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  266),  "to  the  action 
of  the  state  and  national  authorities."  The  alternative  conclusion  involves  an 


HOME  LIFE  TO  HARRISBURG     115 

strative  and  spectacular,  as  attested  by  this 
clause  from  his  first  inaugural  address :  "  When 
the  present  infamous  and  God-condemned 
rebellion  broke  out."  Strong  Pennsylvania 
statesmen  then  stood  around  the  administra 
tion  of  Lincoln.  In  its  congressional  delega 
tion  were  included  Stevens,  Grow,  Kelley, 
McPherson,  Morrell,  Randall,  Schofield  and 
Williams.  Wilmot  was  in  the  Senate,  Stanton 
was  Secretary  of  War,  and  Meredith  was 
Attorney-General  of  Pennsylvania.  The  dan 
ger  to  the  Union  had  brought  to  the  legislature 
men  of  unusual  ability.  Mr.  Olmsted's  dis 
trict  was  composed  of  Tioga  and  Potter.  His 
colleague  was  Hon.  C.  O.  Bowman  of  Tioga. 
The  adjoining  district  comprised  the  counties 
of  Clearfield,  Jefferson,  McKean  and  Elk,  and 
was  represented  by  C.  R.  Earley,  of  Elk,  and 
T.  J.  Boyer,  of  Clearfield.  Mr.  Olmsted  was 
not  unknown  at  Harrisburg.  Upon  the  organ 
ization  of  the  House  he  was  placed  on  the 
committees  of  chief  importance:  Ways  and 
Means,  Corporations  and  Federal  Relations. 
His  ability,  his  aptitude  for  legislation,  and 

unjust  reflection  upon  the  patriotism  of  the  people  of  Pennsylvania;  and  this  alter 
native  appears  to  be  accepted  by  Greeley  and  other  historians.  It  has  gained  cre 
dence  because  it  fits  into  the  recognized  theory  that  the  Confederate  raids  into 
Pennsylvania  were  merely  campaigns  of  "frightfulness,"  designed  to  deaden  the 
spirit  of  loyalty  in  the  North  and  create  a  demand  for  peace. 


116  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

his  effectiveness  in  debate  were  early  rec 
ognized.  The  rank  attained  by  him  in  his 
first  session  was  such  as  to  render  his  retention 
in  the  legislature  a  matter  of  imperative  con 
cern  at  this  critical  period  in  the  history  of 
the  commonwealth,  and  he  was  accordingly 
successively  re-elected  without  opposition  till 
the  end  of.  the  war,  so  that  his  continuous 
service  in  the  House  included  the  sessions  of 
1863, 1864  and  1865.  It  was  in  the  nature  of  a 
patriotic  service,  and  so  recognized  by  his 
constituents,  for  such  a  prolonged  absence 
from  his  home  necessarily  interrupted  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  and  resulted  in 
much  personal  inconvenience  and  sacrifice. 

If  more  men  of  marked  ability  were  then 
sent  to  the  legislature  than  in  recent  years,  it 
would  not  be  difficult  to  account  for  the  fact. 
First,  the  number  of  members  was  not  quite 
half  so  large  as  the  present  membership  (207), 
and  the  districts  were  correspondingly  larger 
in  era.  The  range  of  legislation  was  much 
wider  before  the  adoption  of  the  present  con 
stitution.  Nearly  all  of  the  local,  special, 
municipal  and  individual  business  now  trans 
acted  in  the  courts  was  then  accomplished  by 
legislative  enactment.  Thus  laws  were  passed 


HOME  LIFE  TO  HARRISBURG     117 

) 

to  annul  marriages,  creating  corporations, 
such  as  lumber  companies,  oil  companies,  rail 
road  companies  and  banks,  authorizing  Phila 
delphia  to  construct  certain  sewers  and  drains, 
empowering  borough  councils  and  school 
boards  to  borrow  money,  county  commis 
sioners  to  build  a  bridge,  executors  and 
guardians  to  sell  real  estate.  At  Mr.  Olmsted's 
first  session,  a  law  was  enacted  changing  the 
place  of  holding  elections  in  Stewardson 
Township,  Potter  County;  another  enabling 
the  town  council  of  Coudersport  to  repair 
sidewalks;  an  act  authorizing  commissioners 
to  open  the  state  road  in  Potter  and  McKean; 
an  act  to  release  Potter  County  from  a  judg 
ment  in  favor  of  the  commonwealth;  an  act 
confirming  loans  made  by  commissioners  of 
Potter  to  pay  bounties;  a  supplement  to 
an  act  incorporating  the  McKean  County 
Railroad  Company;  a  supplement  to  an  act 
incorporating  the  Potter  County  Railroad 
Company.  To  ensure  such  a  body  of  legisla 
tion  important  to  the  convenience,  as  well  as 
to  the  prosperity  and  growth  of  a  particular 
district  of  the  commonwealth,  as  also  effective 
participation  in  general  legislation  relating  to 
the  affairs  of  the  state  and  nation  in  a  great 


118     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

historical  crisis,  called  for  a  high  order  of 
ability  and  for  superior  qualities  of  states 
manship.  Arthur  G.  Olmsted  stood  the  test. 
In  his  second  session  he  attained  the  Republi 
can  leadership  in  the  House.  His  district 
still  comprised  the  counties  of  Tioga  and 
Potter.  His  colleague  was  Hon.  John  W. 
Guernsey,  of  Wellsboro.  The  adjoining  dis 
trict  composed  of  Clearfield,  Jefferson, 
McKean  and  Elk,  was  represented  by  T.  J. 
Boyer,  of  Clearfield,  and  A.  M.  Benton  of 
McKean.  It  was  a  Democratic  district. 
Dr.  Boyer  became  conspicuous  as  the  author 
of  charges  of  bribery  in  the  contest  resulting 
in  the  election  of  Simon  Cameron  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  testifying  according  to  the 
majority  report  of  an  investigating  committee 
that  on  one  occasion  he  was  offered  $15,000, 
and  later  $20,000,  and  being  corroborated  in 
essential  particulars  by  Dr.  Earley. 

Mr.  Olmsted  was  appointed  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Legislative  Apportionment, 
second  on  Judiciary  General  (of  which  W.  D. 
Brown  of  Warren  was  chairman),  and  a  mem 
ber  of  Federal  Relations  and  Judiciary  Local. 
By  his  request  he  was  excused  from  the  chair 
manship  of  the  Committee  on  Banks.  It 


HOME  LIFE  TO  HARRISBURG     119 

was  on  his  motion  that  a  resolution  was 
adopted  directing  the  publication  of  a  daily 
Legislative  Record,  and  he  was  made  chair 
man  of  the  committee  on  the  part  of  the 
House. 

The  completion  of  the  Sunbury  and  Erie 
Road  was  announced.  Legislation  was  con 
summated  changing  the  boundary  line  be 
tween  the  counties  of  Warren  and  McKean, 
also  legislation  affecting  the  Potter  County 
Coal  and  Lumber  Company  and  the  McKean 
Railroad  and  Navigation  Company.  The 
speaker,  Hon.  H.  C.  Johnson,  of  Crawford, 
announced  that  during  his  absence  Mr.  Olm- 
sted  would  act  as  speaker  pro  tern.1 

The  responsibility  of  leadership  in  the 
legislature  of  the  Keystone  commonwealth 
was  at  this  juncture  a  grave  undertaking. 
Pennsylvania  was  not  only  in  many  respects 
the  most  important  of  the  loyal  states.  It 
was  the  nearest  to  Washington,  and  its 
statesmen  could  most  readily  be  called  into 
council.  The  Civil  War  had  its  dark  periods. 

"In  the  spring  of  1863,"  says  McClure, 
"Hooker  suffered  a  most  humiliating  defeat 
at  Chancellorsville,  and  the  Army  of  the 


»  Hout«  Journal,  1864,  p.  9. 


120  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

Potomac  had  little  to  inspire  it  with  hope  of 
victory.  It  had  been  defeated  on  the  Penin 
sula;  it  had  been  defeated  at  the  Second  Bull 
Run;  it  had  a  drawn  battle  at  Antietam; 
it  had  been  defeated  at  Fredericksburg  and 
defeated  at  Chancellorsville.  It  had  not  a 
single  decisive  victory  to  its  credit.1 

Moreover,  Pennsylvania  was  on  the  border, 
its  boundary  confronted  the  Confederate  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia;  its  soil  was  constantly 
exposed  to  hostile  incursion.  Thrice,  year 
after  year,  it  had  been  invaded.  Chambers- 
burg  had  been  burned,  and  the  counties  of 
Bedford,  Fulton,  Franklin,  York  and  Adams, 
as  well  as  Cumberland,  had  been  raided.  Is  it 
any  wonder  if  the  pulse-beats  at  the  national 
capital  were  anxiously  noted  at  Harrisburg? 
Pennsylvania  had  already  organized  its 
Reserve  Corps.  The  War  Department  of  the 
United  States  had  created  in  Pennsylvania 
two  new  military  departments:  the  Depart- 

1  McClure's  Recollections,  page  318.  The  following  quotation  is  from  John 
Sherman's  Autobiography  (Vol.  1,  p.  329):  "The  utter  failure  of  McClellan's  Cam- 
paign  in  Virginia,  the  defeat  of  Pope  at  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run;  the  jealousies 
then  developed  among  the  chief  officers  of  the  Union  army,  the  restoration  of 
McClellan  to  his  command;  the  golden  opportunity  lost  by  him  at  Antietam,  the 
second  removal  of  McClellan  from  command,  the  slow  movement  of  Halleck  on 
Corinth,  the  escape  of  Beauregard,  the  scattering  of  Halleek's  magnificent  army,  the 
practical  exclusion  of  Grant  and  his  command,  and  the  chasing  of  Bragg  and  Buell 
through  Kentucky — these,  and  other  discouraging  events,  created  a  doubt  in  the 
public  mind  whether  the  Union  could  be  restored."  The  Democratic  National  Con 
vention,  meeting  at  Chicago  on  the  29th  of  August,  1864,  by  resolution  declared  the 
War  for  the  Union  a  failure,  and  demanded  that  "immediate  efforts  be  made  for  a 
cessation  of  hostilities." 


HOME  LIFE  TO  HARRISBURG 

ment  of  the  Monongahela,  "including  that 
part  of  the  state  west  of  the  mountains," 
under  command  of  Major  General  Brooks,  and 
the  Department  of  the  Susquehanna,  com 
prising  the  remainder  of  the  state,  under 
command  of  Major  General  Couch.  In  June, 
1863,  General  Couch  arrived  at  Harrisburg, 
and  assumed  command.  Troops  to  the  num 
ber  of  31,422  were  assembled  in  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Susquehanna,  and  5,166  in  the 
Department  of  the  Monongahela.  These 
troops  were  finally  merged  in  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac. 

A  special  session  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  Pennsylvania  became  necessary  in  1864, 
and  met  pursuant  to  call  in  August  of  that 
year.1  The  administration  of  the  War  Depart 
ment  was  not  without  the  most  grievous 
scandals,  which  were  made  the  subject  of 
investigation  and  report  on  the  part  of  the 
House.2 


1  Governor's  Message,  session  of  1864. 

2  The  following  scathing  passage  is  extracted  from  the  report  of  the  House 
Special  Committee:  "The  criminal  collusion  of  army  officers  with  the  most  reckless 
and  unmitigated  scoundrels  as  herein  exhibited,  clearly  proves  a  state  of  co-operation 


examination,  with  his  full  Iknowledge  of  their  infirmities.  Men  have  been  mustered 
into  the  United  States  service  who  were  utterly  disqualified  for  military  duty,  and  in 
many  cases  are  yet  in  the  service  of  the  government.  Recruits,  after  they  were 
mustered,  were  not  only  permitted  to  desert,  but  were  even  induced  to  do  so  by  those 
in  authority,  in  order  that  they  might  be  taken  to  other  recruiting  stations,  with 


182     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

It  was  a  turbulent  year — the  year  in  which 
the  peace  sentiment  in  the  North  rose  to  a  cli 
max  and  receded.  One  of  the  chief  causes  con 
tributing  to  this  revolution  was  a  decision  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania  holding 
the  Draft  Act  of  Congress  unconstitutional. 
Against  this  decision  the  loyal  spirit  of  the 
North  rallied  in  a  resentment  not  unlike  that 
which  followed  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  The 
Chief  Justice  (Lowrie)  who  was  a  candidate 
for  re-election  and  his  associate  (Justice 
Woodward),  who  was  the  Democratic  candi 
date  for  Governor,  were  both  smartly  defeated. 
A  motion  to  dissolve  the  preliminary  injunc 
tion  was  promptly  made  to  the  reinforced 
court  and  the  order  vacated.  The  report  of 
the  case  (45  Pa.  238)  embraces  ten  written 
opinions  covering  one  hundred  pages.  Justice 
Strong,  who  delivered  the  principal  opinion 
sustaining  the  act,  was  subsequently  called 
to  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 

an  apparent  understanding  that  those  persons,  although  physically  disabled  and 
notorious  deserters,  might  again  be  enlisted,  either  as  volunteers  or  substitutes. 
Army  officers  have  leagued  with  bounty  swindlers,  for  the  accomplishment  of  these 
vile  purposes.  The  streets  and  alleys  of  our  villages,  towns  and  cities,  have,  at  their 
command,  given  up  the  deformed  and  the  aged  to  be  accepted  as^  soldiers  for  our 
armies.  Infirmaries  have  been  robbed  of  their  diseased  and  maimed,  and  even 
prisons  have  disgorged  their  convicts  at  the  bidding  of  judicial  officers  and  traffickers 
in  human  flesh.  In  fine,  human  depravity  of  every  grade  has  feasted  upon  the  needs 
of  the  government,  and  while  military  authority  has  received  from  the  hands  of 
the  civil  powers  these  culprits  whom  they  sought  to  bring  to  conviction,  justice  has 
been  paralyzed  and  the  commun  ity  left  the  easy  prey  of  the  most  accomplished 
scoundrels.  — House  Journal,  1864  March  23d. 


HOME  LIFE  TO  HARRISBURG     123 

United  States.  It  was  the  year,  too,  in  which 
McClellan  accepted  the  Democratic  Presi 
dential  nomination,  but,  with  unflinching 
patriotism,  won  the  applause  of  the  North 
by  smashing  the  plank  of  the  party  platform 
which  declared  the  war  a  failure,  saying: 
"I  could  not  look  in  the  face  of  my  gallant 
comrades  of  the  army  and  navy  and  tell  them 
we  had  abandoned  that  Union  for  which  we 
have  so  often  imperiled  our  lives."  Lincoln 
finally  wrested  the  victory  only  by  the  weight 
of  the  homely  argument  that  it  was  not  good 
policy  "to  swap  horses  while  crossing  a 
stream." 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  SPEAKERSHIP  IN  1865 

WHEN  the  legislative  session  of  1865 
opened,  Mr.  Olmsted  was  named 
for  speaker  by  the  Republicans 
with  one  accord.  George  A.  Quigley  of 
Philadelphia  was  the  Democratic  candidate. 
The  latter  received  thirty-six  votes,  includ 
ing  that  of  his  opponent.  Olmsted  received 
sixty  votes  and  was  elected.  Among  the 
members  who  supported  him  were  several 
of  subsequent  note,  including  Matthew  S. 
Quay,  representing  Washington  and  Beaver; 
A.  K.  McClure,  of  Perry  and  Franklin,  and 
W.  D.  Brown,  of  Venango  and  Warren.  At 
this  session  the  Thirteenth  Amendment  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  prohibit 
ing  slavery  and  involuntary  servitude,  was 
ratified.  A  pension  law  was  enacted  pro 
viding  a  maximum  monthly  pension  of 
eight  dollars  for  honorably  discharged  offi 
cers,  non-commissioned  officers,  musicians 
and  privates  of  the  army,  including  volun- 

(124) 


THE  SPEAKERSfflP  IN  1865     125 

teers,  militia  and  drafted  men,  disabled  by 
injury  or  disease. 

A  joint  resolution  was  adopted  requesting 
the  Governor  to  call  upon  the  general  govern 
ment  for  the  return  of  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers,  to  be  treated  and  cared  for  in  hospi 
tals  within  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 

An  act  was  passed  providing  for  an  addi 
tional  law  judge  in  the  fourth  judicial  district, 
then  comprising  the  counties  of  Tioga,  Potter 
and  McKean.  Petitions  were  presented  from 
the  counties  of  Crawford  and  Potter  praying 
for  the  passage  of  an  act  to  secure  the  rights 
of  married  women.  Acts  were  passed  incor 
porating  or  supplementing  incorporation  of 
Bennett's  Branch  Improvement  Company, 
Clarion  Land  and  Improvement  Company, 
Elk  County  Manufacturing  and  Improvement 
Company,  Laurel  Run  Improvement  Com 
pany,  McKean  and  Elk  Land  and  Improve 
ment  Company,  Midas  Petroleum  and  Im 
provement  Company,  Potter  County  Forest 
Improvement  Company,  North  Western  Coal 
and  Iron  Company. 

The  prosperity  of  great  centers  of  material 
importance,  the  development  of  natural  re 
sources  in  large  sections  of  the  commonwealth, 


126  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

were  thus  measurably  dependent  upon  legis 
lative  skill,  tact  and  ability.  While  the  con 
stitution  of  1873  aimed  to  overcome  existing 
evils,  it  left  disadvantages  in  their  wake. 
Local  affairs  being  transferred  from  the  legis 
lative  forum  to  the  courts,  local  interest  in  the 
choice  of  representatives  to  General  Assembly 
was  diminished,  and  their  selection  gravitated 
logically  to  the  headquarters  of  the  larger  cor 
porations  or  their  political  agency,  the  party 
machine.  Its  power  became  abnormal,  and 
willing,  rather  than  strong,  men  were  gen 
erally  preferred  as  representatives. 

As  speaker  of  the  Pennsylvania  House  of 
Representatives,  Arthur  G.  Olmsted  was  asso 
ciated  in  a  galaxy  of  distinguished  statesmen, 
who  brought  to  the  commonwealth  high 
honor  during  the  Civil  War;  foremost  among 
whom  was  David  Wilmot,  who  succeeded 
Simon  Cameron  when  the  latter  was  called 
by  Lincoln  from  the  United  States  Senate  to 
the  portfolio  of  the  War  Department;  Galusha 
A.  Grow,  "Father  of  the  Homestead  Law," 
Speaker  of  the  National  House  from  1861  to 
1863;  Edwin  M.  Stan  ton,  also  a  member  of  the 
Lincoln  cabinet,  and  Thaddeus  Stevens,  the 
"  Great  Commoner  of  the  Republic." 


THE  SPEAKERSHIP  IN  1865     127 

A  journalistic  townsman  of  Mr.  Olmsted, 
writing  of  him  at  a  later  period,  has  said: 

"While  not  physically  fit  for  service  in  the 
field,  Arthur  Olmsted  gave  to  the  Union 
cause  the  benefit  of  his  talent,  his  courage  and 
his  sympathy,  with  clear  discernment  antici 
pating  the  dangers  that  impended  when  the 
South  rebelled,  with  optimism  predicting  the 
ultimate  triumph  of  the  right,  and  with 
encouraging  words  and  generous  deeds  help 
ing  the  soldiers  at  the  front  and  the  struggling 
populace  at  home.  And  when  the  war  was 
over,  it  was  his  initiative  that  erected  a  mon 
ument  to  the  brave  sons  of  Potter  who  had 
'given  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion*  to 
their  country. ' ?1 

While  there  were  statesmen  of  note,  includ 
ing  distinguished  "War  Governors,"  who 
exhibited  practical  and  patriotic  concern  for 
the  Union  soldier  in  the  field  and  for  his 
dependents  at  home,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  there 
was  no  public  man  of  that  period  who  was  in 
more  intimate  touch  with  the  men  at  the  front, 
none  who  knew  better  their  needs  and  their 
views,  or  who  was  more  vigilantly  solicitous 
for  those  whom  they  had  left  behind.  His 
hand  is  plainly  seen  in  the  pension  law  of  1865. 

>  Potter  County  Journal,  December  16,  1914. 


128  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

He  corresponded  with  soldiers  who  had  en 
listed  under  his  persuasive  eloquence.  He 
felt  keenly  his  physical  disqualification  and 
coveted  their  comradeship.  They  wrote  him 
not  formal  acknowledgments  merely,  but  let 
ters  containing  reports  of  battles,  observations 
and  personal  opinions — intimate  opinions,  at 
first  hand,  of  much  value  to  a  public  man  in  a 
position  of  leadership.  The  following  extracts 
are  from  a  letter  written  by  Lieutentot- 
Colonel  Walton  Dwight,  dated  "Headquarters 
149th  regiment,  near  Pollock's  Mill,  Va., 
May  13th,  1863."  It  was  written  at  the  close 
of  the  Seven  Days'  Battles,  culminating  at 
Chancellorsville.  It  is  of  no  little  historical 
value,  as  an  immediate,  intimate,  astute 
study  of  a  much-mooted  battle,  notwithstand 
ing  the  writer  had  evidently  not  yet  learned 
how  completely  Howard's  Eleventh  Corps  had 
been  surprised  in  the  forest  by  the  brilliant 
flanking  movement  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  nor 
that  Jackson  had  died  of  his  wound,  nor  that 
the  Union  commander,  Hooker,  near  to  a 
masterly  victory,  had  been  disabled  by  a 
shattered  pillar,  but  for  which  retreat  might 
not  have  been  ordered.  How  solicitous  the 
writer  is  of  the  effect  of  the  reverse  upon  the 


THE  SPEAKERSHIP  IN  1865     129 

people  at  home!  How  conscious  that  the 
army  was  fighting  under  the  eyes  of  the  loyal 
North!  And  yet  how  undismayed  and  con 
fident!  Nor  did  he  dream  that  he  was  soon 
to  lead  his  regiment  (149th  Pennsylvania)  in 
the  famous  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and  that 
when  General  Roy  Stone  and  Colonel  Wistar 
were  wounded,  he  was  to  rank  second  in 
command  in  the  "Bucktail  Brigade." 

"I  would  like  much  to  step  in  unobserved 
and  listen  to  the  numerous  conclusions  arrived 
at  in  the  quiet  little  town  of  Coudersport  rela 
tive  to  the  late  movements  of  this  army.  We 
would  much  like  to  know  how  the  people  feel. 
We  can  judge  by  the  papers,  but  they  lie  so 
infernally  we  can  put  no  confidence  in  them. 
Their  accounts  of  the  late  seven  days'  cam 
paign  are  very  incorrect.  They  give  to  some 
corps  and  generals  the  credit  of  doing  what 
they  could  not,  as  they  with  their  commands 
were  from  two  and  a  half  to  five  miles  dis 
tant  from  where  great  and  severe  conflicts  were 
said  to  have  taken  place.  We  want  to  know 
whether  our  reverse — for  it  is  nothing  else — 
has  dampened  the  patriotism  of  the  people  in 
our  rear.  Will  you  send  us  on  the  new  quota 
to  be  obtained  by  draft?  Is  public  sentiment 
of  that  character  that  it  will  fully  sustain 
the  administration  in  any  and  all  measures 


130  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

necessary  to  crush  out  the  rebellion?  You 
can  see  that  we  are  much  weaker  than  before 
the  late  engagement.  Our  loss  is  from 
15,000  to  18,000,  although  the  prints  put  it 
at  9,000.  We  here  know  it  to  be  over  15,000 
— although  it  is  not  necessary  to  advertise 
that  fact.  We  now  have  23,000  two-years' 
and  nine-months'  men,  making  altogether  our 
army  some  40,000  less  than  when  we  made 
the  crossing  some  twelve  days  ago.  We 
then  numbered  110,000  men  for  duty,  now 
less  than  70,000.  True  the  enemy  are 
greater  losers  than  we  in  killed  and  wounded, 
but  their  men  do  not  go  out  of  service  until 
kind  Providence  discharges  them.  They  are 
relatively  stronger  than  when  we  made  our 
advance.  You  need  not  expect  success  from 
this  quarter  unless  the  enemy  is  compelled  to 
withdraw  a  portion  of  his  force  to  some  other 
part  of  the  Confederacy.  Should  he  do  so  we 
could,  perhaps,  successfully  advance  with  our 
present  force;  otherwise  I  fear  the  result  of 
another  forward  movement.  This  is  one  of 
the  worst  countries  to  fight  a  large  army  ever 
seen;  the  enemy  being  perfectly  acquainted 
with  the  same  makes  it  all  count  advantage 
ously  to  them.  Their  force  was,  to  the  best 
of  my  judgment,  100,000  men  in  the  late 
engagement.  They  are,  if  anything,  better 
armed  than  our  own  men,  and  are  full  as  well 
clothed,  notwithstanding  the  prints  to  the 


THE  SPEAKERSHIP  IN  1865     131 

contrary.  My  regiment  took  ninety  prison 
ers  one  day  while  we  were  on  the  right,  May 
3d.  I  know  we  turned  in  our  own  arms  and 
retained  theirs  in  preference.  They  fight  full 
as  well  as  our  men  and  are  fully  impressed  with 
the  idea  that  they  are  fighting  for  their  inde 
pendence,  and  consequently  must  in  the  end 
be  successful.  The  more  intelligent,  how 
ever,  acknowledge  that  we  can  overpower  them 
if  we  bring  the  full  power  of  our  government 
to  bear  against  them. 

"There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  final  ending 
of  this  affair  if  we  are  true  to  our  principles. 
If  the  people  will  do  as  well  hi  the  rear  as  our 
army  will  in  the  field,  it  is  only  a  question  of 
time.  You  must  not  blame  us  for  not  win 
ning.  We  have  done  all  that  could  be 
expected  of  any  army.  Our  loss  alone 
speaks  for  us.  You  must  remember  we  are 
fighting  our  own  kind,  officered  by  the  best 
men  in  the  land.  We  need  not  expect  great 
routs  and  great  victories.  We  have  never 
had  them  in  this  war.  From  what  I  have  seen 
I  do  not  expect  them.  I  think  I  am  per 
fectly  cool,  and  my  experience  of  the  past 
fifteen  days  has  given  me  an  insight  into  this 
thing  never  before  possessed.  Patience  and 
long  endurance,  with  a  disposition  to  throw 
all  into  the  balance  for  our  cause,  is  the  only 
thing  that  will  win.  There  were  mistakes 
made  on  our  side  that  cost  us  dear,  that 


132     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OIMSTED 

perhaps  lost  us  the  victory,  but  General 
Hooker  is  but  a  man.  Had  he  been  some 
thing  more,  all  might  have  been  well.  To 
err  is  human.  None  of  us  could  see  the  end 
in  the  beginning,  consequently  none  could 
foresee  exactly  what  was  wanted.  Had  we 
sent  a  small  force  to  Port  Royal — some 
fifteen  miles  below  us — to  have  made  a 
demonstration  at  crossing  at  that  point,  we 
could  have  held  Stonewall  Jackson  there  with 
his  20,000  men  until  Hooker  could  have 
whipped  Lee  on  the  right.  Or  had  the 
Eleventh  Army  Corps  fought  like  men 
instead  of  running  like  cowards,  as  they  did, 
our  corps,  15,000  strong,  might  have  been 
left  with  Sedgewick,  and  saved  Fredericks- 
burg  to  us,  without  a  doubt.  Or  had  the 
cowardly  powers  in  Washington  sent  down 
General  Heintzelman  with  his  40,000  use 
less  men  at  that  point,  but  all  needful  here, 
the  result  of  the  late  fight  would  have  been 
the  most  glorious  of  anything  since  the 
rebellion  broke  out.  With  that  force  we  could 
have  completely  gobbled  them  up,  and 
changed  the  whole  aspect  of  the  rebellion. 
As  it  was,  with  the  cowardice  of  the  Eleventh 
Corps,  and  the  doubtful  prospect  of  holding 
the  position  we  occupied  on  the  6th  (owing  to 
the  constant  reinforcement  of  the  enemy),  the 
loss  of  Fredericksburg,  and  the  fear  of  being 
outflanked,  in  connection  with  the  rapid  rise 


THE  SPEAKERSHIP  IN  1865     133 

of  the  Rappahannock,  which  seriously  threat 
ened  the  carrying  off  of  our  pontoon  bridges — 
thereby  entirely  cutting  off  our  supplies — 
common  sense  dictated  that  we  should 
recross  the  river,  after  one  of  the  hardest 
fought  battles  of  the  war  without  any  decisive 
results  on  either  side — although  I  always  con 
sider  it  a  reverse  to  be  compelled  to  fall  back. 
The  loss  of  the  enemy  is  certainly  much  heav 
ier  than  ours,  as  they  in  almost  every  instance 
charged  upon  our  works  and  were  mowed  down 
like  grass.  Lee  acknowledges  a  loss  of 
18,000.  I  think  it  must  be  greater  [even 
than  that. 

"The  generalship  displayed  by  Hooker  in 
successfully  crossing  the  river  in  the  face  of 
an  enemy  nearly  our  equal  in  numbers,  and  our 
superior  in  position,  with  comparatively  no 
loss,  must  win  the  admiration  of  all.  Our 
brigade  and  the  cavalry  aided  by  a  series  of 
feints  which  completely  bewildered  the  enemy. 

"The  cavalry  went  up  the  river,  we  down. 
Our  demonstration  was  made  at  Port  Royal. 
We  made  Quaker  guns,  put  them  in  position, 
built  huge  fires  in  and  about  the  woods  in 
front  of  that  point,  and  exposed  our  empty 
wagon  train  to  view — and  this  was  about  ten 
days  previous  to  the  general  movement.  The 
effect  produced  was  more  than  expected,  the 
enemy  immediately  began  entrenching,  and 
sent  a  strong  force  to  that  point.  Hooker 


134     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OIMSTED 

made  one  mistake  in  not  keeping  a  small 
force  there  at  the  time  he  made  his  actual 
crossing.  As  I  have  previously  remarked, 
had  he  done  so  Jackson  would  not  have  been 
in  our  way  until  after  he  was  whipped.  This 
point  is  seemingly  the  place  to  cross  in  advanc 
ing  on  Richmond.  Therefore  a  feint  neces 
sarily  would  have  been  something  more  to 
the  enemy,  and  they  would  have  held  there  a 
large  force  to  meet  us.  The  next  feint  was 
made  by  the  First  and  Sixth  Corps  on  the 
28th  of  last  month,  the  beginning  of  the  late 
movement  at  Pollock's  Mills  (four  miles 
below  Fredericksburg).  I  see  by  the  prints 
Sedgewick  gets  all  the  credit  for  crossing  at 
this  point,  whereas  our  corps  (the  First)  laid 
the  first  two  pontoon  bridges,  and  crossed 
the  first  man.  We  lost,  killed  and  wounded 
there,  about  one  hundred  men,  were  under 
fire  of  the  four  batteries  of  the  enemy  at 
that  point  during  the  whole  time  Hooker  was 
crossing  with  his  main  force  at  Kelly's  Ford, 
all  of  which  we  got  no  credit  for  in  the  papers. 
Verily,  hi  these  times  the  loudest  trumpet  is 
considered  the  finest  instrument.  We  should 
have  been  all  right  had  we  a  newspaper  cor 
respondent  along.  The  loss  of  our  corps  here 
was  very  light,  owing  altogether  to  the  very 
bad  range  of  the  enemy's  guns.  We  remained 
here,  keeping  up  the  demonstration,  as  long 
as  the  bait  took,  which  was  sufficiently  long 


THE  SPEAKERSHIP  IN  1865     135 

to  allow  our  main  force  under  Hooker  to  get 
into  position  on  the  right.  We  were  then, 
on  the  morning  of  the  2d,  ordered  to  the 
right.  We  made  twenty-two  and  a  half  miles 
that  day  under  the  most  scorching  sun,  with 
eight  days 'rations  and  sixty  rounds  of  ammuni 
tion  per  man.  As  we  moved  up  to  our  posi 
tion  on  the  extreme  right  and  front,  on  the 
night  of  the  2d,  near  the  confluence  of  the 
Rapidan  and  Rappahannock,  about  one  and 
one-half  miles  from  the  former,  we  passed 
through  the  broken  and  panic-stricken  ranks 
of  the  Eleventh  Corps.  Some  of  them  were 
on  mules,  some  on  artillery  horses  that  had 
been  hastily  cut  loose  from  their  batteries, 
others  in  ambulances,  all  intent  only  on  per 
sonal  safety,  and  making  rapidly  for  the 
rear,  and  all  giving  but  one  account  of  the 
front.  All  there  was  ruin  and  annihilation. 
Notwithstanding  all  this,  OUT  boys  moved 
through  them  with  cheer  upon  cheer,  which 
was  heard  by  Sickles'  men  who  were  at  that 
time  desperately  pushed  by  A.  P.  Hill,  about 
one-half  mile  to  our  front  and  left.  It  had  a 
good  effect  as  it  rested  our  tired  boys  and 
instilled  new  hopes  into  them,  and  had  a  cor 
respondingly  depressing  effect  on  the  enemy. 
They  immediately  retired.  There  is  no 
doubt  but  what  our  timely  arrival  saved  our 
army  that  night  at  that  point.  We  at  once 
proceeded  to  fortify  after  we  got  in  position. 


136  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

At  nine  a.  m.  next  day  (3d  inst.),  we  had  a 
perfect  rifle  pit  and  were  ordered  to  make 
reconnoisances  in  front.  We  did  so  and 
before  two  p.  m.  of  the  3d  our  regiment  had 
captured  eighty-six  prisoners,  and  felt  the 
position  of  the  enemy  for  three-quarters  of  a 
mile.  The  enemy  in  the  meantime  shifted 
his  position  to  the  left  of  us,  only  leaving  a 
skirmishing  force  to  hold  us  while  he  could 
attack  our  forces  to  our  left.  He  did  so,  but 
without  success,  and  with  great  loss,  as  our 
lines  were  too  strong  for  him.  The  day  was  a 
series  of  skirmish  fights,  resulting  in  very 
slight  losses.  Monday,  the  4th,  all  was 
quiet  until  one  p.  m.,  when  we  were  informed 
that  the  enemy  were  making  to  our  right. 
Our  brigade  was  immediately  ordered  out  to 
meet  his  advance  guard.  We  moved  to  our 
front  and  right,  and  then  to  our  left,  hoping 
to  find  it  (this  whole  region  is  a  dense  wood 
excepting  only  the  center  where  the  princi 
pal  fight  occurred).  His  move  against  us, 
however,  was  only  a  feint,  as  he  immediately 
whipped  about  and  attacked  the  center  of  our 
line  on  the  right,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
to  the  left  of  our  position.  This  attack  was 
one  of  the  most  daring  and  desperate  of  the 
whole  war.  Jackson  and  Hill  had  both 
been  wounded.  We,  at  that  time,  had  not 
heard  of  anything  going  wrong  at  Fredericks- 
burg.  The  enemy  was  desperate.  He  must 


THE  SPEA.KERSHIP  IN  1865     137 

cut  through.  We  were  in  high  hopes.  Lee, 
in  this  charge,  moved  at  one  time  six  bri 
gades  against  our  works.  They  came  up 
with  yell  after  yell  to  within  forty  yards  of  our 
line  of  defense,  then,  for  a  moment,  all  was 
quiet  as  the  grave;  then  the  continuous  roar 
of  30,000  to  40,000  muskets  for  five  minutes; 
then  the  heavy  boom,  boom,  boom  of  sixty 
pieces  of  artillery;  and  then  the  three  cheers 
of  our  own  men;  and  then  the  charge,  and 
then  the  *  three  times  three*  which  told  us  we 
were  victorious, — is  something  that  could  be 
felt  but  not  described.  There  was  something 
terribly  grand  in  it  all.  The  5th  was  for  us  a 
heavy  day.  It  told  of  disaster  and  defeat  at 
Fredericksburg.  The  enemy,  too,  was  receiv 
ing  heavy  reinforcements,  becoming  more 
numerous  on  our  right  than  our  forces.  A 
terrible  ram  also  set  in  which  would  swell 
the  river  to  that  extent  that  it  would  carry 
our  bridges  off,  and  leave  us  without  sup 
plies.  We  could  hear  nothing  of  Stone- 
man.  We  then  did  not  know  whether  the 
enemy's  connections  were  cut,  so  but  what 
he  could  constantly  pour  in  reinforcements. 
Prudence  demanded  the  re-crossing  of  the 
Rappahannock.  But  I  assure  you  we  did  so 
with  heavy  hearts.  I  think  we  should  have 
remained.  I  believe  in  either  winning  all 
or  losing  all.  This  thing  has  run  about 
long  enough.  The  commanding  general  did 


138  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

not  take  the  above  view.      We  are\  safe  this 
side  the  river. 

"The  men  are  in  good  spirits  and  willing  to 
again  cross  arms  with  the  enemy  whenever 
our  best  interests  demand  it.  As  regards  the 
part  my  own  command  took  in  the  late  cam 
paign,  I  can  safely  assure  you  it  stands  second 
to  none  in  our  corps.  The  number  of  prison 
ers  taken  by  us  was  greater  than  by  any 
other  regiment;  and  the  amount  of  informa 
tion  obtained  by  our  scouts  was  large  and  of 
the  most  valuable  character.  I  cannot  say 
enough  in  praise  of  the  many  excellent 
qualities  displayed  by  our  men  under  the 
most  trying  circumstances.  Their  cheerful 
ness,  perseverance  and  stern  will  at  all  times 
prominent  during  our  arduous  campaign  of  the 
past  few  days,  must  win  the  admiration  of  all. 
I  have  discipline  in  my  regiment,  and  every 
man  now  can  appreciate  the  value  of  it, 
although  I  have  been  considered  very  severe, 
heretofore.  In  all  of  our  various  moves  not 
one  of  my  men  ever  gave  a  false  alarm.  I  can 
safely  say,  were  all  the  men  in  our  army  under 
as  good  discipline  as  our  little  brigade,  the 
70,000  men  now  left  would  be  more  efficient 
than  the  110,000  we  took  into  the  late 
fight.  I  do  not  intend  that  the  good  people 
in  Potter  shall  ever  hear  of  any  disgrace  to 
our  soldiers,  however  much  they  may  learn  of 
my  severity. 


THE  SPEAKERSHIP  IN  1865     139 

"My  kindest  regards  to  your  most  estima 
ble  lady,  and  believe  me 

"Very  truly  yours, 
"W.  D.  DWIGHT, 

"Comdg.  149th  P.  V. 

"Please  write  me  if  convenient.  I  have  run 
over  this  in  great  haste,  but  it  is  reliable. 
The  whole  summing  up  of  the  matter  is  not 
very  much  in  our  favor. 

"W.  D." 

Twenty  days  after  the  second  inauguration 
of  Lincoln,  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  ad 
journed.  On  the  24th  of  March,  1865,  Mr. 
Quigley  of  Philadelphia  offered  the  following 
resolution  in  the  House,  which,  upon  call  of 
the  roll,  was  unanimously  adopted:1 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  House 
are  due  and  hereby  tendered  to  the  Honorable 
Speaker,  A.  G.  Olmsted,  for  the  prompt, 
able,  dignified  and  impartial  manner  in  which 
he  has  presided  over  our  deliberations." 

In  token  of  the  esteem  of  the  officers  of  the 
House,  an  elegant  gold-headed  cane  was  then 
presented  to  the  speaker  by  Mr.  W.  H. 
Ruddiman. 


>  House  Journal,  BBS 


CHAPTER  X 

SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE 

EE'S  surrender,  the  assassination  of 
Lincoln,  induction  of  Vice-President 
Johnson  into  the  Presidency,  the  func 
tion  attending  it,  the  processes  of  recon 
struction,  the  election  of  Geary  in  succes 
sion  to  Curtin  as  Governor  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  these  and  many  other  stirring  events 
speedily  followed  the  close  of  Mr.  Olmsted's 
period  of  service  in  the  lower  house  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Legislature.  He  was  suc 
ceeded  in  that  body  by  his  preceptor,  Hon. 
John  S.  Mann,  who  was  successively  elected 
for  the  sessions  of  1867,  1868,  1869  and 
1871,  and  later  chosen  a  delegate  to  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1873.  It  was 
the  intention  that  Mr.  Olmsted  should  go  to 
the  Senate,  succeeding  the  incumbent  from 
Tioga  County.  The  senatorial  district  was 
then  comprised  of  the  counties  of  Potter, 
Tioga,  McKean  and  Clinton,  in  area  (4,078 
square  miles)  nearly  four  times  as  large  as 

(140) 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      141 

the  State  of  Rhode  Island.  Mr.  Olmsted  was 
elected  to  the  Senate  in  the  fall  of  1868, 
carrying  McKean  County  by  a  majority  of  one 
hundred  seventy  votes  over  A.  M.  Benton,  of 
Port  Allegany,  the  Democratic  candidate, 
leading  the  ticket,  with  scarce  exception, 
throughout  the  district.  Meanwhile  he  gave 
more  consecutive  attention  to  the  practice  of 
his  profession  than  for  some  years  had  been 
possible.  Seth  Lewis  and  Don  Carlos  Larra- 
bee,  students  in  his  office,  were  admitted  to 
practice.  The  latter  received  the  appointment 
of  postmaster  at  Coudersport,  but  after  a  few 
months  relinquished  the  office  and  became  the 
law  partner  of  Mr.  Olmsted  under  the  firm 
name  of  Olmsted  and  Larrabee,  a  partnership 
which  continued  unbroken  until  1883.  Hon. 
Robert  G.  White,  of  Wellsboro,  was  still  the 
president  judge  of  the  district  composed  of  the 
counties  of  Potter,  Tioga,  Cameron,  Elk  and 
McKean,  but  was  to  be  succeeded  in  1871  by 
Hon.  H.  W.  Williams,  of  Wellsboro.  Potter 
County  was  still  without  rail  communication 
with  the  outer  world,  and,  therefore,  but 
slowly  increased  in  population.  Lumbering 
was  still  the  chief  industry.  Few  saw-mills, 
however,  had  yet  been  established,  and  trans- 


142     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

portation  of  logs  was  by  nature's  highways, — 
the  several  tributaries  of  the  Sinnemahoning, 
the  Allegheny  and  the  Genesee,  and  for  the 
purpose  these  smaller  streams  were  made 
"navigable"  by  act  of  assembly. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  order  of  legis 
lation  in  aid  of  pioneer  development;  first, 
for  transportation  by  stream,  then  by  high 
way,  and  later  by  railroad,  settlements  (towns 
and  villages)  following  along  these  courses  in 
their  natural  sequence.  Thus,  streams  of  the 
commonwealth  having  been  declared  naviga 
ble  by  act  of  assembly,  their  chief  tributaries 
were  by  numerous  acts  also  declared  public 
highways.  For  instance,  by  act  of  1805, 
the  west  branch  of  Pine  Creek  from  the  third 
fork  in  the  county  of  Tioga  to  the  forks  at  the 
Elk-Lick,  in  the  county  of  Potter,  and  also  the 
said  third  fork  from  its  mouth  to  Morris' 
marsh  (in  the  said  county  of  Tioga)  "were 
declared  to  be  public  highways  for  the  passage 
of  boats  and  rafts,"  and  "lawful  for  the  inhabi 
tants  and  others  desirous  of  using  the  naviga 
tion  of  said  branches  to  remove  all  natural  or 
other  obstructions  in  the  same."  Likewise,  by 
act  of  1807,  "all  that  part  of  Oswaye  Creek, 
in  the  county  of  Potter  and  county  of  McKean, 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      143 

which  lies  between  the  north  line  of  this  state 
and  the  forks  of  said  creek  about  twenty 
miles  from  its  mouth,  and  "all  that  part  of 
Six's  or  Conondau  Creek,  which  lies  between 
the  town  of  Smith's  Port,  in  the  county  of 
McKean,  and  the  mouth  of  said  creek,  and  so 
much  of  the  Allegheny  River,  in  the  counties 
of  Potter  and  McKean,  as  lies  southwardly 
of  the  north  line  of  the  state,"  were  declared 
"public  streams  or  highways." 

There  was  contemporaneous  legislation  reg 
ulating  the  use  of  said  streams  by  mill- 
owners,  and  the  construction  of  slopes  and 
locks  in  such  manner  as  should  not  prevent 
fish  from  passing  up  stream,  or  boats  and  rafts 
passing  downward.  Then  followed  a  half 
century  of  successive  acts,  in  such  detail, 
intricacy  and  volume  as  to  constitute  an  inde 
pendent  branch  of  the  law,  governing  the  use 
of  these  streams  in  the  business  of  lumbering 
and  transportation  of  logs  and  rafts  along  the 
same,  including  the  marking  of  logs  and 
lumber,  taking  up  and  reclaiming  the  same, 
construction  of  booms  by  driving  piles  to 
gather  and  hold  floating  logs,  and  finally, 
for  the  incorporation  of  associations  for  such 
purpose,  known  as  boom  companies.  With 


144  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

the  exhaustion  of  the  forests,  this  period  passed 
into  history. 

The  number  of  senators,  since  increased 
to  fifty,  was  then  but  thirty-three,  and  a  seat 
in  the  Senate  was  consequently  regarded  as  a 
position  of  high  dignity  and  importance. 
Mr.  Olmsted  entered  the  Senate  with  the 
prestige  of  his  distinguished  service  in  the 
House,  from  which  he  had  gained  an  enviable 
state  reputation.  His  associates,  many  of 
them,  were  to  be  men  of  marked  ability. 
Wallace,  afterwards  a  Democratic  leader  in  the 
United  States  Senate,  came  from  Clearfield; 
Buckalew,  noted  as  a  constitutional  lawyer 
and  author,  who  had  just  finished  a  term  in  that 
body  as  the  successor  of  Wilmot,  came  from 
Columbia;  General  Harry  White,  soon  to 
become  a  conspicuous  member  of  the  45th  and 
46th  Congresses,  from  Indiana;  and  Charles  H. 
Stinson,  speaker  of  the  Senate,  from  Norris- 
town.  Into  the  office  of  Attorney  General,  with 
the  incumbency  of  Governor  Geary,  had  come 
Benjamin  H.  Brewster,  of  Philadelphia,  sub 
sequently  called  to  the  cabinet  of  President 
Arthur.  General  Hartranf t  had  become  Audi 
tor  General,  and  Robert  W.  Mackey,  political 
preceptor  of  Quay,  was  State  Treasurer. 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      145 

Senator  Olmsted  was  assigned  to  the  follow 
ing  important  committees :  Federal  Relations, 
Judiciary  General,  Education,  and  he  was 
made  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Library. 
Early  in  the  session  he  introduced  and 
secured  the  passage  and  approval  of  an  act 
supplemental  to  the  act  of  1853,  incorporating 
the  Jersey  Shore,  Pine  Creek  and  State  Line 
Railroad  Company.  The  promotion  of  this 
road  was  regarded  as  essential  to  the  public 
interests  of  Potter  County,  and  Olmsted  and 
Mann  had  it  at  heart  and  kept  it  in  view 
throughout  their  respective  terms.  But  there 
were  still  obstacles  in  its  way  which  it  would 
require  legislation  to  remove,  and  this  was 
to  be  sought  by  an  act  subsequently  to  be 
introduced. 

It  was  in  the  session  of  1869  that  an  act  was 
passed  appointing  commissioners  to  lay  out  a 
road  from  Kane  to  Campbell's  Mill.  By  far 
the  most  important  action  of  this  session  was 
the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution  ratifying  the 
Fifteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  declaring  that  the  right  of 
citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not 
be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States 
or  by  any  state  on  account  of  race,  color  or 


146  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

previous  condition  of  servitude.  Party  repre 
sentation  was  evenly  divided  in  the  Senate, 
and  it  was  by  no  means  certain  that  the 
resolution  would  pass.1  In  fact,  a  serious 
contest  was  anticipated.  The  resolution  came 
from  the  Committee  on  Federal  Relations  with 
a  strong  minority  report  by  Wallace  and 
McCandless.  The  majority  report  was  signed 
by  M.  B.  Lowry,  James  L.  Graham  and  A.  G. 
Olmsted.  Its  language  is  easily  identified 
as  that  of  Olmsted,  and  the  fact  that  his 
name  was  the  last  to  be  affixed  is  a  circum 
stance  not  needed  to  confirm  the  conclusion. 
The  following  passages  are  worthy  of  a  place 
in  history: 

"That  in  free  America,  the  home  of 
Washington — the  refuge  of  the  oppressed  of 
all  climes — the  land  of  a  free  church  and  a 
free  Bible,  where  education  is  opened  to  all, 
and  where  alone  in  all  the  earth  was  each 
white  man  the  political  equal  of  every  other 
white  man,  there  should  remain  upon  the 
statute  books  of  states  which  had  long  de 
clared  all  their  inhabitants  free,  a  law  for 
bidding  the  exercise  of  suffrage  because  of 
color,  could  be  as  little  explained  to  our 


1  In  1861  (January  24th),  the  legislature  had  passed  a  joint    resolution  which, 
inter  alia,  conceded  the  maintenance  of  slavery  as  a  constitutional  right. 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      147 

friends  abroad  as  it  could  be  excused  by  our 
selves.  The  principle  of  justice  which  had 
struck  the  manacles  from  the  limbs  of  the 
black  man  would  have  seemed  equal,  at  the 
same  time,  to  the  duty  of  placing  the  ballot 
in  his  hands.  That  it  would  have  been  so  suf 
ficient  is  now  evident  to  all  but  for  one  rea 
son,  namely,  the  baneful  and  blighting  influ 
ence  of  slavery  in  the  Southern  states.  .  .  . 
The  negro  race  in  Pennsylvania  may  be 
estimated  at  75,000.  Many  can  trace  their 
state  lineage  through  generations;  must  have 
been  born  on  her  soil.  .  .  .  The  negro  in 
Pennsylvania  voted  until  1838.  Did  his  exer 
cise  of  suffrage  injure  the  state?  Can  any 
one— did  even  the  convention,  which,  in 
obedience  to  the  behest  of  slavery,  deprived 
him  of  that  right — say  that  it  did?  .  .  .  Tax 
ation  without  representation  is  as  repugnant 
to  the  moral  sense  today  as  it  was  in  the 
Revolution.  Let  Pennsylvania  no  longer 
tolerate  it  within  her  borders,  but  now,  hand 
in  hand  with  her  sister  states,  let  her  help  to 
engraft  into  the  constitution  of  the  nation 
this  last  lesson  of  the  Rebellion,  this  crown 
ing  act  of  justice,  and  proclaim  that  under 
the  flag  of  our  country  all  men  shall  be  equal 
in  the  eye  of  the  law." 

The  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of 
eighteen  in  the  affirmative  to  fifteen  in  the 


148  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

negative.1  In  the  session  of  1870  Senator 
Olmsted  was  given  an  additional  chairman 
ship,  that  of  the  Committee  on  Estates  and 
Escheats,  and  subsequently  was  also  assigned 
to  the  Committee  on  Electoral  Reform.  Gen 
eral  Thomas  L.  Kane,  a  member  of  the 
first  State  Board  of  Public  Charities,  was 
elected  president  of  the  board.  General 
Kane  afterwards  tendered  his  resignation,  and 
in  a  rather  scathing  report,  recommended  the 
abolition  of  the  board  as  an  inefficient  means 
for  the  purpose  in  view,  saying  that  members 
generally  were  inattentive  and  neglectful  in 
respect  to  attendance  at  stated  meetings,  and 
little  interested  in  regard  to  the  respective 
charities  over  which  they  were  presumed  to 
have  supervision. 

General  White  succeeded  to  the  speakership 
and  Lucius  Rogers  of  Smethport  was  con 
tinued  in  office  as  assistant  clerk  of  the  Senate. 
The  time  had  come  for  the  introduction  of 
the  railroad  measure  which  was  to  set  the 
people  free  enchained  in  the  wilderness,  and 
liberate  the  resources  of  the  county  of 
Potter.  The  record  shows2  that  "Mr.  Olm- 


i  Senate  Journal,  1869,  p.  550. 
3  Senate  Journal,  1870,  p.  623. 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      149 

sted  read  in  his  place  and  presented  to  the 
chair  a  bill  entitled  'An  Act  to  facilitate  and 
secure  the  construction  of  an  additional  rail 
way  connection  between  the  waters  of  the 
Susquehanna  and  the  great  lakes,  Canada 
and  the  northwestern  states,  by  extending 
the  aid  of  certain  corporations  to  the  Jersey 
Shore,  Pine  Creek  and  Buffalo  Railway  Com 
pany."  The  preamble  of  the  bill  affords  such 
concise  explanation  of  the  measure  that  it  is 
here  quoted: 

"  WHEREAS,  It  is  a  matter  of  much 
public  importance  to  the  state  at  large 
that  a  railway  should  be  completed  at  an 
early  date  to  form  an  additional  connection 
between  the  anthracite  and  bituminous  coal 
fields  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  great  chain  of 
lakes  and  states  west:  also  to  aid  the  construc 
tion  of  the  Pittsburgh,  Virginia  and  Charles 
ton  Railway,  the  Clearfield  and  Buffalo 
Railway  and  the  Erie  and  Allegheny  Railway, 
and  thereby  provide  outlets  for  important 
portions  of  this  commonwealth  that  are 
filled  with  valuable  coal,  mineral  and  other 
products,  now  without  such  highways,  and 
when  those  lines  are  constructed  adding 
greatly  to  the  taxable  values  for  state,  county 


150  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

and  municipal  purposes,  as  well  as  to  greatly 
increase  the  value  of  productions  from  those 
sections  of  the  commonwealth  for  manufactur 
ing,  agricultural  and  all  other  purposes;  and 
"WHEREAS,  It  is  believed  that  those  desira- 


Approximate  route  of  the  Jersey  Shore,  Pine  Creek  and  Buffalo 
Road  (extended  to  Buffalo). 

ble  objects  may  be  accomplished  by  the  provi 
sions  of  the  annexed  bill,  and  in  order  to  grant 
sufficient  authority  for  effective  aid  as  afore 
said  to  secure  the  same;  therefore,"  etc. 

The  route  of  the  road  was  to  be  from  Jersey 
Shore  by  way  of  Pine  Creek  and  the  Allegheny 
River  to  the  New  York  state  line.  March  16, 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      151 

1870,  was  agreed  to  for  the  consideration  of 
the  bill,  and  to  enable  members  of  the  House 
and  other  persons  interested  to  attend,  con 
sideration  was  postponed  to  the  morning 
session  of  the  17th  and  again  to  the  evening 
session  of  that  day.  Debate  on  this  bill 
had  been  long  anticipated.  It  was  understood 
that  it  was  to  be  opposed  on  the  part  of  cer 
tain  railroad  interests.  Constitutional  ob 
stacles  were  to  be  the  ostensible  ground  of 
opposition.  Buckalew,  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  lawyers  in  the  commonwealth, 
was  to  lead  the  attack.  It  was  to  be  a  forensic 
battle  of  giants.  The  Senate  chamber  was 
crowded.  If  the  bill  should  pass,  it  would 
go  to  the  House.  Hence  many  members  of  the 
lower  branch  were  in  attendance,  and  the 
argument  was  in  effect  to  both  branches. 
Representatives  of  affected  interests  were 
present.  Here  and  there  friends  of  the  bill 
could  be  counted  in  the  audience,  among 
them,  doubtless,  F.  W.  Knox  and  Sobieski 
Ross,  also  Backus,  of  Smethport,  Byron 
Hamlin,  a  senatorial  predecessor  of  Olmsted, 
also  Strang,  speaker  of  the  House,  who  was  to 
succeed  him,  and  perhaps  Arnold,  moved  by 
the  argument  that  the  Buffalo  and  Washing- 


152  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

ton  Railway  via  Port  Allegany  was  dependent 
upon  the  success  of  the  pending  project. 
These  gentlemen,  or  some  of  them,  with 
certain  of  their  friends,  had  subscribed  liberal 
contributions  in  land,  required  to  secure 
requisite  capital  for  the  proposed  railroad  con 
struction.  Senator  Olmsted  had  made  careful 
preparation.  He  was  to  meet  adversaries 
worthy  of  a  supreme  intellectual  effort.  The 
audience  was  intent.  He  began  by  clearing 
the  ground  of  the  constitutional  question 
which  had  been  raised,  and  then  entered  upon 
a  description  of  the  advantages  which  would 
result  from  the  construction  of  the  road,  well 
calculated  to  propitiate  his  hearers.  He  then 
proceeded  in  the  delivery  of  a  powerful  argu 
ment,  which  lacked  nothing  of  vision,  nor  of 
eloquence,  nor  of  legal  acumen  and  cogency, 
nor  of  a  masterly  array  of  facts,  legal  principles 
and  precedents.  He  anticipated  and  over 
whelmed  objections,  met  interrogation  with 
ready  and  convincing  retort,  and  when  he 
took  his  seat,  it  was  realized  that  he  had  made 
an  argument  which  no  senator  could  cope 
with,  that  he  had  won  the  day,  and  that 
the  address  was  a  forensic  triumph  of  a  high 
order.  There  are  passages  in  this  address 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      153 

which  will  be  of  permanent  interest,  particu 
larly  in  the  region  which  then  embraced  his 
constituency. 

Omitting  the  discussion  of  the  constitutional 
question  as  one  of  no  present  interest,  and  in 
any  event,  substantially  disposed  of  by  the 
Supreme  Court  in  the  case1  cited  by  Senator 
Olmsted,  the  argument  proceeded  as  follows: 

"I  believe,  sir,  that  this  road  when  con 
structed  will  immediately  become  one  of  the 
most  important  lines  of  travel  in  the  United 
States.  It  will  reach  by  its  connection  with 
the  Buffalo  and  Washington  Railway,2  now 
in  course  of  construction,  the  great  entrepot 
of  the  western  lakes  by  a  route  fifty  miles 
shorter  than  any  now  hi  existence.  It  gives 
a  Pennsylvania  corporation  control  of  a 
short,  direct  line  from  Philadelphia  to  Buffalo. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  while  New 
York  has  already  four  lines  of  communica 
tion  between  Buffalo  and  New  York  City, 
we  have  not  one  between  that  important 
point  and  our  great  seaboard  city,  though 
trains  are  now  run  from  Philadelphia  to 
Buffalo,  under  a  lease  held  by  the  Northern 
Central  of  the  Elmira  and  Canandaigua  road, 
but  this  lease  soon  expires,  and  then  that 


>  Gratz  v»,  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  Co.,  5  Wright,  447. 
*  Via  Enporium  and  Keating  Summit. 


154  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

road  falls  into  the  control  of  the  New  York 
and  Erie.  The  harbor  at  Buffalo  is  now  and 
always  will  be  the  great  point  from  which  the 
enormous  productions  of  the  West  are  dis 
tributed.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  nine-tenths 
of  the  grain  and  cattle  production  of  the 
entire  West  is  deposited  en  route  to  the 
Atlantic  sea-board  in  that  harbor,  and,  as 
facilities  now  exist,  it  is  carried  eastward 
almost  exclusively  by  New  York  corporations." 

Here  the  speaker  exhibited  by  a  comparative 
statement  of  facts  and  figures  the  magnitude  of 
the  developing  coal  trade  of  Buffalo,  from 
which  shipments  were  being  made  to  Chicago, 
Milwaukee,  Detroit  and  the  great  West, 
ignored  by  Pennsylvania  capital,  absorbed  in 
over-supplying  the  market  toward  the  sea 
board. 

"That  line  of  transportation  will  be  most 
important  which  puts  this  article  of  con 
stantly  increasing  and  unlimited  demand, 
at  the  great  entrepot  of  the  lakes  by  the  short 
est  and  cheapest  route.  .  .  .  Now,  Mr. 
Speaker,  this  line,  when  completed,  will  put 
both  the  anthracite  and  bituminous  coals  of 
Pennsylvania  from  forty  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  nearer  to  Buffalo  than  they  can  now 
be  put  there  by  any  existing  line." 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      155 

Taking  the  distances  from  the  anthracite 
coal  fields  of  Scranton  and  Shamokin  via 
Williamsport,  Elmira  and  Canandaigua  as 
approximately  two  hundred  ninety-four  miles, 
Senator  Olmsted  showed  that  the  projected 
route  via  Sunbury  would  be  forty-five  miles 
shorter.  In  the  following  language  he  por 
trayed  the  development  of  bituminous  coal 
mining  in  the  counties  of  McKean  and 
Potter: 

"The  nearest  bituminous  coal  to  Buffalo  by 
present  line  is  that  in  Mercer  County,  which 
reaches  that  point  by  way  of  Erie  and  the 
Lakes,  or  by  rail  at  a  distance  of  one  hundred 
sixty-seven  miles.  The  next  nearest  is  that 
at  Blossburg,  Tioga  County,  which  by  rail 
and  the  Seneca  Lake,  reaches  Buffalo  at  a  dis 
tance  of  two  hundred  eighty-nine  miles,  or 
by  rail  exclusively  at  a  distance  of  one  hun 
dred  seventy  miles.  Now,  sir,  pass  this  bill 
and  build  this  road,  and  the  bituminous  coals 
of  McKean  and  Potter  counties  can  be  placed 
on  the  docks  at  Buffalo  at  a  distance  of  from 
eighty-five  to  one  hundred  twenty-five  miles. 
It  necessarily  follows  inevitably  from  these 
facts  that  the  seven  hundred  thousand  tons 
now  distributed  from  Buffalo  can  be  trans 
ported  thither  from  seventy-five  cents  to 
one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  cheaper 


156  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

than  by  existing  lines,  and  as  a  necessary  con 
sequence  a  large  portion  of  the  coal  carrying 
trade  must  be  done  over  it." 

He  next  demonstrated  the  importance  to 
Philadelphia  of  a  share  of  the  eastern  traffic 
from  Buffalo  then  going  to  New  York.  He 
gave  the  figures  of  1870  for  grain,  live  stock 
and  lumber,  and  showed  that  only  a  small 
fraction  passed  over  roads  in  which  Pennsyl 
vania  capital  was  invested. 

"Now,  Mr.  Speaker,  when  the  facts  show 
that  by  construction  of  the  Pine  Creek,  State 
Line  and  Buffalo  Railroad,  we  place  Phila 
delphia  fifty-five  miles  nearer  to  Buffalo  and 
to  this  immense  trade  than  she  now  is,  and 
over  seventy  miles  nearer  to  that  point  than 
New  York  City  by  present  lines,  the  impor 
tance  and  value  of  the  undertaking  becomes 
apparent,  and  our  plain  duty  as  senators 
comes  home  to  us.  Shall  we  be  deterred  by 
imaginary  evils  or  objections,  narrow  and 
technical,  or  shall  we  arise  to  a  just  apprecia 
tion  of  the  great  argument,  and  by  an  act  of 
liberal  justice  to  ourselves,  grasp  now  what 
the  law  of  development  and  of  trade  declares 
is  our  inheritance." 

From  this  discussion  of  the  importance  of 
the  through  traffic  the  speaker  passed  to  the 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      157 

subject  of  local  development  and  its  economic 
results.  Taking  the  instance  of  the  branch 
only  twenty-five  miles  long,  up  the  Tioga 
River  to  the  Blossburg  coal  region,  he  showed 
that  the  state  had  in  the  single  year  1870 
received  from  it  in  taxes  $11,978.89. 

"And  yet,"  continued  the  speaker,  "the 
idea  has  become  almost  chronic  in  the  earlier 
settled  and  better  developed  portions  of  the 
state,  that  all  that  section  of  our  common 
wealth  is  comparatively  valueless,  and  its 
people  and  its  interests  have  hitherto  been 
regarded  as  unworthy  of  consideration  as 
those  of  a  delegate  from  a  distant  territory  in 
the  National  Congress,  or  a  Catholic  bishop 
from  Egypt  or  Syria  in  the  Ecumenical  Coun 
cil  at  Rome." 

Showing  that  for  more  than  seventy  miles 
the  projected  road  would  pass  through  this 
undeveloped  region  "containing  coal  enough 
to  occupy  the  entire  transporting  power  of  all 
the  corporations  in  Pennsylvania  for  fifty 
years,"  he  went  on: 

"Build  this  road  through  that  region  now 
totally  undeveloped  and  you  bring  forth  this 
hidden  treasure  and  haste  it  onward  to  the 
markets  of  the  West,  add  untold  millions  to 


158  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

local  values,  create  new  objects  of  state  reve 
nues,  and  furnish  employment  for  thousands 
of  the  hardy  sons  of  toil." 

Deposits  of  iron  ore  had  been  discovered  at 
various  points,  and  the  speaker  predicted  its 
development  as  a  matter  of  importance  be 
cause  of  its  proximity  to  coal  and  timber 
requisite  for  its  manufacture.  Then  he 
turned  to  agriculture. 

"A  careful  examination  of  the  census  returns 
for  1870  shows  that  the  aggregate  value  of 
agricultural  products  in  the  three  counties 
through  which  this  road  mainly  passes  is 
equal  to  that  of  any  counties  hi  this  state  or 
elsewhere  of  equal  population.  For  dairying 
purposes  they  are  not  equaled  by  any  counties 
in  this  commonwealth,  resembling  in  their 
climate,  soil  and  general  surface  the  counties 
of  Cortland,  Allegany,  Steuben  and  others 
in  the  State  of  New  York  that  produce  now  the 
bulk  of  the  butter  and  cheese  sold  in  the 
markets  of  the  City  of  New  York." 

Having  thus  demonstrated  that  the  earnings 
of  the  proposed  road  would  surely  pay  the 
interest  and  principal  of  the  proposed  lien  upon 
it,  the  senator  proceeded: 

"  It  would  be  well  for  us  all  to  remember  that 
this  road  will  pass  through  a  region  that  has 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      159 

hitherto  received  no  aid  from  the  fostering 
care  of  the  commonwealth.  As  I  remarked 
last  winter,  it  is  a  neglected  and  unappre 
ciated  portion  of  the  state.  Its  citizens  have 
hitherto  been  treated  as  aliens  and  strangers 
from  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania. 
They  have  borne  the  burthens  without  the 
benefits  of  citizenship,  and  they  ask  that  from 
henceforth  they  shall  stand  as  equals  upon  a 
common  platform.  They  pay  for  what  they 
demand.  These  bonds  are  but  the  repre 
sentatives  of  money  actually  expended  by 
the  state  in  sections  that  are  now  rich  and 
populous,  and  great  common  gratitude  requires 
that  the  representatives  from  those  counties 
should  go  to  the  verge  of  constitutional  limit 
in  their  efforts  to  be  just  to  others." 

Appealing  for  a  more  liberal  public  policy, 
the  speaker,  though  not  foreseeing  the  adapta 
tion  of  electricity  to  interurban  transporta 
tion,  nor  the  motive  power  of  gasoline  and  the 
invention  of  the  modern  motor-truck,  clearly 
foresaw  the  expanding  need  of  increased 
facilties  for  transportation  at  low  cost,  and 
thus  predicted  municipal  construction  and 
maintenance  of  lines  of  railway  over  short 
routes: 

"The  time  will  come  in  this  country  when 
railroads  of  cheap  construction  and  narrow 


160  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

gauge  will  be  as  common  as  highways,  and 
then  they  will  be  built  and  maintained  at 
the  expense  of  the  municipal  corporations 
through  which  they  pass." 

Recurring  to  the  pending  bill,  he  related  a 
striking  instance  of  the  success  attending 
legislation  of  similar  import  in  aid  of  a 
Southern  road,  and  closed  with  this  eloquent 
peroration: 

"Mr.  Speaker,  I  need  hardly  say  that  I 
am  anxious  for  the  passage  of  this  bill.  I 
represent  upon  this  floor  an  important  por 
tion  of  this  commonwealth  when  brought  by 
railway  lines  into  connection  with  the  outer 
world.  Now  it  is  as  nothing.  The  whole 
future  of  that  region  is  hanging  upon  the 
proposition  contained  in  this  bill.  It  is  for 
the  legislature  to  say  whether  it  shall  become 
rich  and  populous  and  great,  or  whether  it  shall 
remain  as  it  now  is,  cast  off  from  communica 
tion  with  the  human  race.  Pass  this  bill,  and 
it  will  bring  our  people  into  connection  and 
sympathy  with  the  balance  of  this  great 
commonwealth.  It  will  remove  the  dread 
shadow  under  which  they  live  and  expose 
their  great  natural  wealth  to  view  and  apply 
it  to  the  uses  of  mankind." 

The  Senate  chamber  may  well  have  re 
sounded  with  prolonged  applause.  Those 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      161 

who  had  listened  had  heard  the  utterances  of  a 
statesman.  When  Senator  Olmsted  resumed 
his  seat,  he  had  added  new  lustre  to  his 
reputation.  Speeches  in  opposition  to  the 
bill  were  made  by  Buckalew,  White,  Brooke 
and  Billingfelt,  and  in  its  favor  by  Wallace, 
Randall,  Purman  and  Lowry.  When  put  to 
vote  on  the  following  day  it  passed,  twenty 
senators  voting  in  the  affirmative  and  twelve 
in  the  negative,  and  next  day,  under  the 
leadership  of  Speaker  Strang,  it  passed  finally 
in  the  House.  Would  it  receive  the  Governor's 
approval?  That  was  by  no  means  assured. 
On  the  contrary,  it  was  deemed  certain  that 
sinister  influences  would,  if  possible,  be 
brought  to  bear  to  secure  a  veto.  The  com 
monwealth  had,  however,  been  well  aroused 
in  behalf  of  the  bill.  The  Philadelphia  Press, 
on  the  morning  after  the  hearing  in  the  Senate, 
had  a  column  and  a  half  editorial  in  its  sup 
port,  recapitulating  the  arguments  and  sta 
tistical  facts  in  Senator  Olmsted's  speech,  and 
on  the  following  day  the  Inquirer  had  a  half- 
column  editorial  concluding  as  follows: 

"The  bill  to  facilitate  the  consummation  of 
this  important  enterprise  is  now  in  the  hands 
of  the  Governor  awaiting  his  signature,  and  we 


162  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

are  assured  that  in  expressing  the  hope  that 
he  will  at  the  earliest  moment  give  it  his 
official  sanction,  we  but  express  the  senti 
ments  of  every  citizen  interested  in  the  pros 
perity  of  the  commonwealth." 

But  Governor  Geary  had  the  power  to  put 
to  death  this  great  constructive  measure,  and 
he  exercised  that  power.  If  he  had  honestly 
doubted  the  constitutionality  of  the  bill,  he 
might  have  left  the  question  to  be  judicially 
determined.  But  he  did  not  risk  it  with  the 
courts.  He  declared  it  unconstitutional, 
himself,  and  returned  it  without  his  approval. 
That  he  was  aware  such  course  would  not 
commend  itself  is  evident  from  the  following 
apologetic  paragraph  in  his  message: 

"Regarding  it  as  among  the  most  impor 
tant  ever  submitted  for  consideration,  both  in 
the  principle  it  involves  and  the  consequences 
of  my  action  thereon,  I  have  examined  it  with 
as  much  care  as  was  possible  in  the  short 
time  allowed  and  the  pressure  of  other 
duties  at  this  late  stage  of  the  session.  For 
these  reasons  it  would  have  been  desirable 
that  the  views  about  to  be  announced  should 
have  been  the  subject  of  more  mature 
reflection." 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      163 

So  the  legislative  triumph  which  Senator 
Olmsted  had  won  through  a  year  and  more  of 
patience  and  tact  and  parliamentary  skill,  was 
thus  frustrated,  and  the  measure  which  he 
had  at  heart  and  to  which  his  constituency 
had  long  looked  for  relief,  was  finally  set  at 
naught  by  a  few  deft  strokes  of  the  guberna 
torial  pen.  But  Senator  Olmsted  was  not 


altogether  disheartened.  Subsequently  he 
sought  with  success  other  means  of  relief  from 
their  isolation  for  the  inhabitants  of  Potter. 
Nevertheless,  reviewing  the  events  which 
followed  the  defeat  of  the  measure,  it  is  prob 
able  that  the  Governor,  in  the  passage  quoted, 
did  not  overrate  either  its  importance  or  the 
consequence  of  his  action;  and  that  the  veto 
played  no  little  part  in  the  political  disruption 
which  followed,  in  which  his  own  career  was 
terminated  and  his  party  overthrown. 

The   session   of   1871    was   crowded   with 


164  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

important  legislation.  The  membership  of 
the  Senate  had  received  strong  reinforcement: 
James  S.  Rutan,  a  notable  Republican  leader; 
Harrison  Allen,  soon  to  be  Auditor  General; 
Delamater  and  Dill,  both  to  become  guberna 
torial  candidates.  By  the  close  vote  of 
seventeen  to  sixteen,  Wallace  was  elected 
speaker  over  White.  The  necessity  for  a 
constitutional  convention  had  become  appar 
ent.  Senator  Olmsted  presented  the  petition 
of  the  city  of  Philadelphia  praying  for  the 
calling  of  such  convention.  He  was  assigned 
to  the  Committee  on  Constitutional  Reform, 
in  addition  to  his  previous  assignments.  The 
necessary  legislation  preliminary  to  the  Con 
stitutional  Convention  of  1873  was  thereupon 
matured.  Senator  Olmsted  reported  from 
the  Judiciary  General  a  joint  resolution, 
regarding  a  Centennial  Celebration.  The 
speaker  appointed  Messrs.  Olmsted,  Purman 
and  Nagle  the  committee  on  the  part  of  the 
Senate  relative  to  a  Centennial  Celebration  in 
Philadelphia  in  1876.  The  committee  con 
ducted  the  preparations. 

Upon  receipt  of  the  Governor's  message 
announcing,  inter  alia,  the  appointment  of 
Thomas  L.  Kane  as  major-general  of  the  12th 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      165 

division,  composed  of  the  counties  of  Clarion, 
Elk,  McKean  and  Forest,  the  appointment 
was  unanimously  confirmed,  and  on  the  same 
day,  upon  motion  of  Olmsted,  General  Hart- 
ranft  and  General  Beaver  were  also  unan 
imously  confirmed. 

On  motion  of  Senator  Olmsted  the  Game 
Law  was  amended;  also,  upon  his  motion,  the 
rules  were  suspended  and  a  bill  passed  relative 
to  actions  of  replevin. 

Some  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  local  legisla 
tion  procured  by  Senator  Olmsted  at  this 
session  will  be  gained  by  mention  of  the  fol 
lowing  bills,  most  of  which  were  designed  to 
promote  the  industrial  and  material  develop 
ment  of  the  region  embraced  in  his  senatorial 
district: 

A  supplement  to  an  act  appointing  com 
missioners  to  lay  out  and  open  a  state  road 
from  the  mouth  of  Kettle  Creek  down  said 
creek  to  the  south  line  of  Potter;  a  bill 
vacating  part  of  state  road  from  the  mouth 
of  Paddy's  Run  to  Hopper  House  in  Potter 
County;  a  bill  to  lay  out  a  state  road  from 
house  of  Florian  Rausch,  in  Abbott  Township, 
down  Kettle  Creek  to  the  south  line  of  Potter; 
a  bill  to  lay  out  a  road  from  Babbs'  Creek  to 


166     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

coal  mines  at  Antrim;  a  bill  to  lay  out  a 
state  road  from  Johnsonburg  to  Backus' 
steam  mill  in  McKean  County;  a  supplement 
to  act  to  lay  out  state  road  from  Ridgway  via 
Johnsonburg  and  Wilcox  to  Kane;  a  bill  con 
struing  act  to  lay  out  a  state  road  from 
Wellsboro  to  Bodines;  a  bill  amending  road 
laws  of  Potter  County;  a  bill  repealing  road 
and  bridge  act  for  McKean,  Bradford  and 
Venan-go;  a  supplement  to  an  act  extending 
time  for  completing  Buffalo,  Bradford  and 
Pittsburgh  Railroad;  a  supplement  to  an  act 
incorporating  Wellsboro  and  Lawrenceville 
Railroad  Company;  a  supplement  to  an  act  to 
incorporate  the  Bald  Eagle  Broom  Company; 
a  supplement  to  an  act  incorporating  the 
Bald  Eagle,  Nittany  and  Brush  Valley  Turn 
pike  Company;  a  bill  changing  the  name  of 
the  Buffalo  and  Washington  Railway  Com 
pany;  a  bill  to  confirm  and  establish  certain 
monuments  in  the  borough  of  Smethport. 
At  this  later  day  it  seems  incredible  that 
these  numerous  acts  are  but  instances  of 
a  considerably  larger  volume  of  enact 
ments  procured  at  a  single  session  for  the 
several  counties  of  this  district.  It  was 
the  simplest  kind  of  constructive  legislation, 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      167 

but  it  resulted  in  the  rapid  upbuilding  of  the 
region. 

At  the  same  session  a  bill  was  introduced 
to  create  a  new  county  out  of  Warren,  Venango 
and  Crawford.  It  was  resisted  by  the  repre 
sentatives  of  these  counties.  The  opposition 
leader  was  Charles  W.  Stone,  of  Warren, 
afterwards  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth, 
Lieutenant  Governor,  and  an  influential  mem 
ber  of  the  Pennsylvania  delegation  in  the  51st 
to  55th  Congresses.  The  measure  was  strongly 
supported,  and  excitment  ran  high,  but  with 
the  co-operation  of  Senator  Olmsted  it  was 
defeated. 

Corporate  employment  had  at  this  juncture 
risen  to  great  magnitude  throughout  the  East. 
Factories  multiplied,  and  increasing  demands 
were  made  upon  coal  mines  and  means  of 
transportation.  Controversies  arose  over 
rates  and  scales  of  wages;  corporate  manage 
ment  appeared  to  be  inconsiderate,  if  not 
arbitrary,  and  labor  organizations  began  to  be 
formed.  The  situation  was  becoming  acute, 
and  found  expression  in  the  legislature.  In 
the  Senate  of  Pennsylvania,  it  became  a 
matter  for  consideration  in  connection  with 
coal  freights,  and  was  the  subject  of  a  report 


168  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

from  the  Committee  on  Judiciary  General,  to 
which  it  had  been  referred.  The  report  was 
unanimous,  and  was  signed  by  J.  D.  Davis, 
chairman,  Robert  P.  Dechert,  R.  Bruce 
Petrikin,  Harry  White,  A.  G.  Olmsted.  It 
presented  a  careful  study  of  the  problems 
involved,  and  contained,  among  others,  such 
striking  sentences  as  the  following: 

"If  labor  be  the  parent  of  capital,  capital 
in  turn  becomes  the  foster  mother  of  labor." 

"The  right  of  labor  to  combine  is  no 
longer  an  open  question." 

"The  first  great  strike  on  record  occurred 
among  the  men  employed  in  building  Wind 
sor  Castle." 

The  contention  on  the  part  of  labor  had 
not  been  ignored  by  the  committee,  and  the 
report  concluded  with  a  recommendation  for 
the  establishment  of  a  commission  board  of 
arbitration.  The  report  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  immediately  fruitful  of  legislation. 
But  when  it  is  remembered  that  forty-seven 
years  have  since  elapsed,  and  that  capital  had 
then  met  no  reverse  in  its  controversy,  that 
it  had  grown  self-confident,  if  not  arrogant, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  committee  had  taken 
a  long,  bold,  forward  step  in  summoning  it  to 


SERVICE  IN  THE  SENATE      169 

trial,  to  lay  its  cases  fairly  before  an  impartial 
tribunal.  The  antecedents  of  Senator  Olm- 
sted  had  been  such,  the  experience  of  his 
early  life,  his  constant  touch  with  the  hand 
of  toil,  his  instinctive  antagonism  to  slavery, 
his  unfailing  championship  of  the  weak  against 
the  strong,  that  his  determination  to  secure, 
if  he  could,  the  rights  of  labor  without  prej 
udice  to  capital  might  well  have  been  antici 
pated.  Though  no  act  of  assembly  was 
founded  upon  the  report,  it  appears  to  have 
been  instrumental  in  solving  the  existing 
deadlock  between  miners,  operators  and  rail 
road  men,  for  Senator  Olmsted's  letter  files 
contain  information  from  the  chairman  of  the 
committee  to  the  effect  that  an  arbitration 
plan  had  been  accepted.  It  is  believed  that 
this  is  the  first  instance  of  an  extension  of 
legislative  aid  for  the  solution  of  a  controversy 
between  labor  and  capital  through  a  legally 
constituted  commission,  the  Maryland  act 
for  such  purpose  not  having  been  passed  until 
1878,  nor  that  of  New  Jersey  until  1880,  nor 
the  Federal  law  until  1888. 


CHAPTER  XI 

STATE  LEADER  AND  CANDIDATE 

THE  close  of  the  session  of  1871  left 
Senator  Olmsted  in  the  leadership  on 
the  Republican  side,   and  with  the 
respect  and  personal  esteem  of  the  Demo 
cratic  senators  to  whom  he  had  been  politically 
opposed. 

Soon  after  adjournment  he  was  besought  by 
influential  friends  at  Williamsport,  who  desired 
to  urge  his  appointment  as  president  judge  of 
the  Lycoming  district,  but  to  this  he  did  not 
accede.  Almost  immediately  upon  his  return 
home  he  was  called  into  consultation  in  an 
important  contested  election  case  arising  in 
McKean,  known  as  "Melvin's  Case"  (reported 
in  68  Pa.  p.  333),  wherein  it  was  alleged  that 
whereas  the  act  of  1841  fixed  the  place  for 
holding  elections  in  Bradford  Township  at 
Littleville,  the  election  in  question  was  held 
half  a  mile  distant,  and  the  Supreme  Court 
held  the  election  invalid.  Senator  Olmsted 
did  not  appear  in  the  case.  It  was  argued  in 

(170) 


STATE  LEADER  171 

the  Supreme  Court  by  Junius  Clark  of  Warren 
and  Rasselas  Brown,  of  the  same  place  (of 
whom  Senator  Olmsted,  in  casual  conversa 
tion,  was  once  heard  to  speak  as  "the  ablest 
lawyer  between  Chesapeake  Bay  and  Lake 
Erie").  Other  important  litigation  awaited 
his  return. 

But,  notwithstanding  his  state  of  health  was 
such  that  he  would  have  welcomed  a  period  of 
rest  at  his  own  home,  this  was  not  to  be 
vouchsafed  him.  A  vacancy  was  occurring 
in  the  office  of  additional  law  judge  in  the 
seventh  judicial  district,  composed  of  the 
counties  of  Bucks  and  Montgomery,  and  it  was 
a  pleasing  incident  that  he  should  receive  a 
letter  from  his  senatorial  associate,  Hon. 
Charles  H.  Stinson,  who  had  just  retired  from 
the  speaker's  chair,  urging  him  to  allow  the 
presentation  of  his  name  for  appointment. 
"Please  consider  the  matter  for  one  hour," 
wrote  Senator  Stinson,  "and  write  to  me  at 
once;"  and  a  little  later  a  letter  was  addressed 
to  Governor  Geary,  signed  by  every  member 
of  the  bar  in  each  of  the  counties  of  the  dis 
trict.  On  the  eleventh  day  of  November,  a 
commission  was  accordingly  issued  to  him  for 
the  unexpired  term,  ending  the  first  day  of 


172  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

December,  1872.  He  was  urged  to  consider 
an  election  for  the  succeeding  term,  but  since 
the  constitution  required  a  residence  in  the 
district,  he  could  not  accede  at  such  a  sacrifice. 
Moreover,  his  political  friends  were  not 
content  with  his  withdrawal  from  political 
activity.  That  he  retired  from  the  bench 
with  the  highest  esteem  of  the  bar  of  the 
district,  is  well  evidenced  by  the  following 
tribute  uttered  by  Hon.  George  Lear  at  a 
Republican  ratification  meeting  held  in  Hor 
ticultural  Hall,  Philadelphia,  in  October,  1874, 
when  Judge  Olmsted  was  before  the  people 
as  a  state  candidate.1 

"Judge  Olmsted,  the  candidate  for  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor,  comes  from  the  north  tier 
of  counties  of  the  state,  not  exactly  beyond 
the  borders  of  civilization,  but  in  a  region 
with  which  the  people  of  Philadelphia  and 
vicinity  have  but  little  intercourse.  He 
comes  from  the  country  of  Wilmot,  where  the 
Democracy  in  this  state  first  repudiated  the 
control  of  the  slaveholding  oligarchy,  and  it 
is  my  good  fortune  to  have  been  permitted  to 
make  his  personal  acquaintance.  Three  years 
ago  we  required  a  law  judge  in  our  judicial 
district.  His  name  was  suggested  as  a 


The  All-Day  City  Item,  Philadelphia,  October  11. 1874. 


STATE  LEADER  173 

gentleman  fitted  for  the  place.  Before  apply 
ing  to  the  Governor  for  his  appointment,  I 
took  it  upon  myself  to  institute  proper  inqui 
ries  as  to  his  qualifications  for  a  judicial  posi 
tion,  and  from  the  present  Judge  Mercur,  and 
from  Charles  R.  Buckalew,  W.  W.  Ketcham, 
William  Wallace,  and  other  representative 
men  of  the  state,  of  both  parties,  I  received 
the  most  unequivocal  endorsement  of  his 
honorable  deportment  as  a  gentleman,  his 
unflinching  integrity,  sound  legal  learning, 
varied  acquirements  and  general  intelligence. 
We  recommended  his  appointment,  and  it 
was  made;  and  during  the  year  of  his  judicial 
career,  I  had  opportunity  to  ascertain,  and 
have  now  the  pleasure  to  verify  and  confirm 
the  high  and  unqualified  recommendations 
given  to  him  by  the  leading  men  of  the  state 
of  both  political  parties.  He  is  a  man  of  that 
character,  ability  and  qualifications  whose 
election  will  redound  to  the  honor  of  the 
party  and  the  state." 

In  the  month  of  November,  1871,  Hon. 
John  L.  Doty  wrote  from  the  office  of  Second 
Auditor  of  the  United  States  Treasury  Depart 
ment,  assuring  him  that  the  delegates  from 
Clinton  County  in  the  next  congressional 
nominating  convention  would  be  favorable 
to  his  nomination  as  representative  from 


174  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

the  eighteenth  district  (composed  of  Center, 
Clinton,  Ly coming,  Tioga  and  Potter).  A 
letter  from  General  Kane  in  the  following 
month  indicates  that  Senator  Olmsted's  avail 
ability  for  the  gubernatorial  nomination  was 
being  considered  in  high  quarters.  He,  how 
ever,  did  not  enter  the  field,  and  General 
Hartranft  was  nominated  and  elected.  Soon 


afterwards  the  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1873  went  into  session.  It  framed  a  revision 
designed  to  incorporate  into  the  fundamental 
law  numerous  radical  changes,  and  among 
them  extreme  restrictions  upon  local  and 
special  legislation,  the  consideration  of  which, 
at  the  ensuing  election,  served  in  great  measure 
to  distract  public  attention  from  political 
issues.  It  created  the  office  of  Lieutenant- 
Governor.  The  nominee  for  this  office,  the 
new  constitution  having  been  ratified  and 


STATE  LEADER  175 

gone  into  effect  January  1, 1874,  was  therefore 
to  head  the  state  ticket  in  the  fall  of  that 
year.  Among  Republicans  the  foremost  name 
for  this  nomination  was  that  of  Arthur  G. 
Olmsted.  The  large  number  of  candidates, 
however,  indicated  "a  fair  field  and  no  favor." 
The  list  included  Olmsted  of  Potter,  Stanton 
of  Philadelphia,  Graham  of  Allegheny,  Purvi- 
ance  of  Butler,  Knorr  of  Columbia,  Campbell 
of  Cambria,  Flemiken  of  Greene,  Sill  of  Erie. 
In  more  recent  times  the  candidate  of  one  or 
the  other  of  the  great  cities  would  have  felt 
assured  of  success  unless,  indeed,  the  party 
organization  had  indicated  its  own  preference. 
But  in  this  convention  Olmsted  led  Stanton 
on  the  first  ballot  by  twenty  votes,  on  the 
second  by  sixty-one,  on  the  third  by  one 
hundred  thirty-four,  whereupon  Olmsted's 
nomination  was  made  unanimous.  Edward 
M.  Paxson  was  nominated  for  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  Harrison  Allen  for  Auditor 
General  and  Robert  B.  Beath  for  Secretary  of 
Internal  Affairs.  "The  ticket,"  as  regarded 
by  Alexander  K.  McClure,  "was  a  very 
creditable  one,  as  Olmsted  was  one  of  the 
ablest  and  most  respected  of  the  prominent 
legislators  of  the  state,  while  Allen  had 


176     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

served  creditably  in  both  branches,  and  Beath 
was  one  of  the  most  gallant  soldiers."  The 
North  American  and  United  States  Gazette,  the 
morning  following  the  convention,  said  editori 
ally  :  "  Mr.  Olmsted  isf  avorably  known  through 
out  the  state,  and  is  everywhere  spoken  of 
with  respect  and  admiration,"  and  again  in  the 
next  issue  after  the  Democratic  convention: 

"Judge  Olmsted  has  always  been  a  leading 
man  in  public  affairs,  and  his  record  is  clear 
of  all  possible  objection,  while  at  the  same 
time  he  has  never  shrank  from  any  responsi 
bility,  and  faithfully  has  adhered  to  his  party 
principles  without  being  afraid  to  exercise  his 
right  of  judgment  and  to  criticise  freely." 

The  Philadelphia  Press  treated  the  nomina 
tion  editorially  in  similar  eulogistic  terms, 
and  added: 

"The  fact  that  he  comes  from  a  compara 
tively  obscure  county,  and  that  he  has  been 
nominated  by  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and 
discriminating  conventions  that  ever  met  in 
the  state,  is  proof  that  his  capacity  has 
enforced  itself  upon  the  attention  and  grati 
tude  of  the  commonwealth." 

Another  influential  journal1  said  editorially : 


Philadelphia  Inquirer,  August  20,  1874. 


STATE  LEADER  177 

"Judge  Olmsted  is  well  known  throughout 
the  state,  and  wherever  known  is  respected 
and  beloved.  He  was  repeatedly  chosen, 
while  still  a  young  man,  to  represent  his 
district  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and 
subsequently  hi  the  Senate  of  the  state,  and 
by  the  former  body  he  was  chosen  speaker, 
thus  showing  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held 
by  those  who  knew  him  best,  whether  person 
ally  or  officially.  As  speaker  of  the  House, 
and  in  his  service  in  the  Senate,  at  the  bar 
and  on  the  bench,  he  has  earned  a  reputation 
for  firm  character  and  impartial  judgment  that 
make  him  eminently  fitted  to  preside  over  the 
deliberations  of  the  State  Senate,  and,  should 
the  emergency  occur,  to  assume  the  chief 
magistracy  of  the  commonwealth.  Judge 
Olmsted  well  represents  the  devoted  and 
unwavering  republicanism  of  the  rural  coun 
ties,  as  Judge  Paxson  that  of  the  city,  and  with 
two  such  names  at  the  head  of  the  ticket,  there 
can  be  no  question  of  success." 

A  few  days  later  the  Philadelphia  Press 
refers  to  the  nomination  as  having  been 
received  with  especial  favor  by  the  press  of 
of  the  state,  and  "  given  universal  satisfac 
tion."  But  the  Republican  party  throughout 
the  country  was  entering  upon  an  unfortunate 
campaign.  The  second  election  of  Grant  had 

12 


178  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

left  the  party  disrupted.  Powerful  leaders, 
including  Greeley  and  Sumner,  had  been 
alienated.  In  a  protesting  convention  of 
Labor  Reformers,  Governor  Geary  had  led 
on  the  informal  ballot  for  the  presidential 
nomination.  The  resumption  of  specie  pay 
ments  had  been  a  source  of  division.  The 
country  was  slowly  recovering  from  the 
financial  panic  of  1873.  An  era  of  hard 
times  had  set  in,  and  agitation  had  begun  for 
an  inflation  of  the  currency.  The  Ku-Klux 
Klan  had  generated  the  obnoxious  Enforce 
ment  Acts  of  Congress.  Official  complicity  in 
the  frauds  of  the  "Whisky  Ring,"  exposed  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Bristow,  and 
the  impeachment  of  Secretary  of  War  Belknap, 
had  not  been  without  adverse  effect  upon 
Republican  prestige  and  prospects.  Party 
leaders  in  Pennsylvania  were  uniting  upon  the 
presentation  of  Governor  Hartranft  for  the 
presidential  nomination  of  1876,  and  the 
agitation  of  a  third  term  for  General  Grant 
was  a  disturbing  cause.  The  Democrats  with 
great  skill  turned  to  their  account  every 
point  of  vantage.  The  October  elections  in 
Ohio  and  Indiana  resulted  in  favor  of  the 
Democratic  party,  and  this  had  its  disheart- 


STATE  LEADER  179 

ening  effect  in  the  Republican  "rank  and  file." 
It  is  hardly  a  matter  of  wonder  that  the 
elections  in  November  proved  a  Waterloo  for 
the  Republican  party.  The  Democrats  swept 
the  country  and  won  a  majority  in  the  lower 
house  of  Congress  for  the  first  time  in  eighteen 
years.  But  Pennsylvania  was  a  Republican 
state.  Two  years  before  the  Republican 
candidates  had  carried  the  state  by  a  majority 
of  140,000.  It  was,  nevertheless,  a  ques 
tion  whether  the  party  could  stem  the 
adverse  currents  sweeping  across  the  country. 
Besides,  there  were  unfavorable  conditions 
in  the  state.  Local  option  was  a  vexatious 
issue. 

The  new  constitution  had  not  been  put  into 
operation  without  some  friction.  Friends  of 
Governor  Hartranft  and  former  Governor 
Geary  were  not  in  accord.  But  Republicans 
in  Pennsylvania,  handicapped  as  they  were, 
entered  upon  the  canvass  bravely  and  with 
enthusiasm.  A  stronger  ticket  could  hardly 
have  been  nominated. 

After  the  campaign  had  been  running 
nearly  two  months,  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
convention  had  commended  itself  in  the 
public  mind,  a  leading  Republican  journal  of 


180  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

Philadelphia    alluded    to    the    head    of    the 
ticket  as  follows:1 

"Mr.  Olmsted's  record  as  a  loyal  man  is  as 
sound  as  that  of  any  man  in  the  state,  and 
his  character  as  a  legislator  is  above  reproach. 
No  man  has  ever  dared  to  charge  him  with 
corruption.  His  votes  and  his  voice  in  the 
halls  of  legislation  were  always  on  the  side  of 
right,  and  his  manly  devotion  to  the  National 
Government  in  the  hour  of  its  peril,  and  to 
his  state,  are  part  of  the  proud  records  of  the 
commonwealth . ' ' 

It  now  seems  incredible  that  at  so  late  a 
day  there  should  have  existed  in  Pennsyl 
vania,  particularly  in  the  counties  of  the 
Southern  Tier,  a  serious  apprehension  of 
negro  usurpation  as  a  result  of  emancipation. 
Nevertheless,  Democratic  distrust  over  against 
Republican  pride,  in  respect  to  the  liberation 
of  the  slave,  constituted  throughout  the  can 
vass  a  theme  of  animated  discussion.  Latta, 
the  Democratic  candidate  for  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  speaking  in  the  Senate  on  a  bill  to 
give  colored  passengers  equal  rights  on  public 
conveyances,  was  quoted  as  follows: 


» Philadelphia  Press  editorial,  October  8,  1874. 


STATE  LEADER  181 

"Any  law  which  proposes  to  raise  them  to 
an  equality  with  the  white  men  of  America, 
is  a  step  towards  the  formation  of  a  monarchi 
cal  form  of  government." 

Judge  Olmsted,  on  the  contrary,  was  re 
garded  as  the  champion  of  the  rights  of  the 
freedmen. 

It  is  needless  to  follow  Judge  Olmsted  in 
the  course  of  his  attendance  at  the  great 
gatherings  which  greeted  him  throughout  the 
state.  It  will  suffice  to  mention  the  single 
grand  Philadelphia  ratification  meeting,  which 
had  been  called  to  be  held  in  Horticultural 
Hall  on  the  tenth  of  October.  A  Pennsylvania 
canvass,  state  or  national,  reaches  its  climax 
in  that  metropolis.  In  no  large  city  of  the 
Union  does  such  a  meeting  become  so  dis 
tinctively  a  matter  of  the  populace.  It  is  an 
assemblage  of  the  people  of  Philadelphia. 
To  the  candidate  it  is  almost  a  crucial  test. 
If  he  should  fail  on  the  occasion,  or  if  the 
meeting  should  lack  the  aspect  of  an  out 
pouring  of  the  people,  these  circumstances 
would  forebode  disaster. 

On  this  October  night  the  auguries  were 
favorable.  No  indication  of  success  was 
lacking.  On  the  balcony  in  front  of  the  hall 


182  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

Beck's  Philadelphia  Band  rendered  patriotic 
music.  Sky-rockets  were  sent  up  on  Broad 
Street,  and  the  splendid  thoroughfare  was 
ablaze  with  red  and  blue  lights.  The  spacious 
hall  was  crowded  to  overflowing.  Prominent 
citizens  occupied  seats  on  the  platform. 
Among  them  were  Hon.  A.  E.  Borie,  of  the 
Navy  portfolio  in  the  Grant  cabinet;  Hon. 
William  D.  Kelley,  protection  leader  in  Con 
gress;  General  H.  H.  Bingham,  afterwards 
known  from  his  long  congressional  service  as 
"Father  of  the  House;"  Hon.  A.  C.  Harmer, 
M.  C.;  Seth  Comly,  a  leader  of  the  Pennsyl 
vania  bar;  Jeremiah  Nicholson,  and  others. 
Benjamin  H.  Brewster,  then  at  the  head  of  the 
Philadelphia  bar,  and  later  Attorney  General 
of  the  United  States,  was  chosen  to  preside. 
At  least  two  hundred  and  fifty  vice-presidents 
were  named,  including  such  widely  known 
Philadelphians  as  William  E.  Cramp,  John 
Stackhouse,  Edwin  H.  Fitler,  Samuel  Bisp- 
ham,  Samuel  J.  Reeves,  Anthony  D.  Lever 
ing,  Thomas  Dolan,  Dr.  F.  H.  Gross,  and 
General  Robert  Thompson.  Among  the  secre 
taries  were  Robert  Patterson,  General  Louis 
Wagner,  Hamilton  Disston,  George  Graham 
and  Simon  Gratz.  Besides  Judge  Olmsted, 


STATE  LEADER  183 

General  Charles  Albright  and  Hon.  George 
Lear  were  to  speak,  but  Judge  Olmsted  was 
to  precede  them.  He  had  not  been  previously 
heard  by  a  Philadelphia  audience,  nor  had 
it  been  his  fortune  to  ever  before  address  an 
assemblage  of  such  magnitude,  nor  one  includ 
ing  so  many  citizens  of  distinguished  attain 
ments  and  superor  intelligence.  But  he  had 
not  been  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Republican 
state  ticket  merely  because  of  his  qualifica 
tions  for  the  performance  of  the  duties  of 
the  office  of  Lieutenant-Governor.  He  was 
chosen  as  the  forensic  champion  of  the  party, 
its  ablest  platform  advocate,  at  a  time  when 
it  was  beset  with  scandal  and  criticism  and 
danger,  when  it  was  charged  with  the  prev 
alence  of  hard  times,  when  its  policies 
respecting  the  freedman  and  the  enforcement 
of  his  civil  rights  were  challenged,  in  short, 
when  the  party  needed  in  the  field  its  ablest 
exponent  and  defender.  Judge  Olmsted  was 
the  very  incarnation  of  the  Republican  faith. 
Into  it  he  had  been  born  and  bred.  He 
breathed  its  spirit  and  believed  in  its  mission. 
He  knew  its  history  by  heart.  Its  achieve 
ments  and  purposes  were  at  his  tongue's  end. 
They  fairly  shone  as  he  recounted  them. 


184     ARTHUR  GEORGE.  OLMSTED 

His  address  was  not  only  a  closely  knit 
argument,  meeting  his  adversaries  at  every 
point  of  dispute,  and  advancing  the  standards 
of  his  party,  but  it  was  illuminated  with 
historic  incident,  with  imagination  and  vision, 
rising  often  into  periods  of  eloquence,  which 
won  from  the  audience  their  frequent  applause. 
While  it  fitted  the  need  and  the  hour,  it 
remains  as  a  classic  of  masterly  exposition  and 
defense.  It  will  repay  future  study,  not  only 
by  students  of  our  political  history,  but  also 
by  American  youth  seeking  models  of  forensic 
speech. 

When  the  applause  following  Judge  Olm- 
sted's  introduction  had  subsided,  he  spoke 
as  follows: 

"Almost  unceasing  attention  to  affairs  of  a 
political  character  seems  to  be  a  duty  under  a 
government  framed  like  ours:  'A  govern 
ment  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the 
people.'  Not  so  under  a  government  despotic 
in  its  form,  where  all  power  springs  from  the 
sovereign,  and  the  people,  in  the  language  of 
one  of  England's  hereditary  lords,  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  laws  except  to  obey 
them. 

"The  people  of  this  country,  under  our 
republican  form  of  government,  while  looking 


STATE  LEADER  185 

after  affairs  of  state  are  simply  attending  to 
their  own  business  and  discharging  a  duty  as 
much  incumbent  upon  the  citizen  as  the 
affairs  of  his  own  household. 

"In  a  republic  a  bad  administration  of  pub 
lic  affairs  for  any  length  of  time  is  an  im 
possibility  if  the  citizen  attends  to  his  duty. 

"I  speak  of  these  things,  fellow-citizens, 
because  I  know  from  my  own  experience,  as 
well  as  from  observation,  how  wearied  the 
citizen  is  apt  to  become  of  these  constantly 
recurring  political  excitements.  Yet  the 
demagogue  and  the  political  aspirant  is  never 
tired  of  his  occupation,  and  the  public  inter 
ests  are  never  in  danger  except  in  times  of 
calm  indifference. 

"Dangerous  political  heresies  are  short  lived 
where  the  people  are  all  attention.  Danger 
lurks,  and  lurks  only,  on  a  smooth  political  sea. 

"Many  men  are  anxious  about  the  future  of 
the  country.  Give  yourselves  no  concern 
about  that.  The  future  is  boundless,  and  is 
counted  by  eternities;  it  will  take  care  of 
itself.  It  is  only  the  present,  illuminated  by 
the  past,  with  which  we  have  to  do.  Dis 
charge  your  duty,  whatever  it  may  be,  and 
trust  that  he  who  comes  after  you  will  do  his 
also,  enlightened  by  your  example.  We  learn 
the  danger  and  the  policy  of  the  present 
hour,  from  our  knowledge  of  the  past.  It  is 
our  teacher  and  in  its  light  we  go  forward. 


186     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

The  Choice  of  Administration: 

"We  come  again  to  the  question  so  often 
presented  to  us,  whether  it  is  best  for  the 
interests  of  the  country,  that  the  party  that 
defended  its  unity  and  integrity  should  still 
exercise  a  controlling  voice  in  its  management, 
or  whether  it  shall  be  controlled  by  the  party 
in  the  South  that  sought  its  destruction  by  an 
appeal  to  arms  and  the  party  in  the  North  that 
acts  with  it  politically.  It  is  a  living  vital 
question  today,  as  it  was  when  the  air  was 
black  with  the  coming  of  the  armed  hosts  of 
treason,  and  the  soil  of  Pennsylvania  was 
polluted  by  the  tread  of  the  invader. 

"True  it  is,  thank  God,  that  the  confused 
noise  and  bloody  garments  of  war  have  passed 
away,  and  that  peace  and  prosperity  reign 
in  their  stead.  True  that  the  government 
is  united,  and  not  divided,  and  that  from  the 
pine  forests  of  the  northern  lakes  to  the  orange 
groves  of  the  Rio  Grande  the  sun  never  rises 
upon  a  master  nor  sets  upon  a  slave.  And 
to  whom  do  we  owe  all  this?  To  the  Republi 
can  party.  It,  and  it  alone,  sustained  always, 
without  qualification  and  without  hesitation, 
whether  upon  the  tented  field,  in  the  political 
gathering,  or  the  legislative  council,  the  policy 
that  led  to  this  grand  fruition.  While  upon 
the  other  hand,  the  great  majority  of  those 
who  now  say  that  they  shall  control  the  gov 
ernment  were  in  arms  against  it,  seeking  its 


STATE  LEADER  187 

destruction,  and  the  establishment  of  another 
government,  based  upon  the  crimson  suicide 
and  madness  of  American  slavery,  while  the 
lesser  portion  of  that  party,  distributed 
through  another  section,  without  actual  trea 
son,  gave  but  a  hesitating,  doubtful,  fault 
finding  and  qualified  adhesion  to  the  govern 
ment.  These  things  have  happily  passed 
away,  and  I  take  no  pleasure  in  referring  to 
them,  but,  as  I  have  already  said,  the  light 
of  the  past  shines  upon  the  present,  and  by 
it  we  go  forward.  (Applause.) 

Probation  for  the  South: 

"Upon  this  subject  I  wish  to  be  understood. 
There  should  be  no  lines  of  distinction,  so 
far  as  political  privileges  and  the  rights  of 
citizenship  are  concerned.  While  the  people 
of  the  country  yield  assent  to  the  grand  idea 
worked  out  by  the  war,  that  the  govern 
ment  must  exist  as  a  unity,  and  that  it  pos 
sesses  the  inherent  and  constitutional  power 
to  maintain  that  unity  against  domestic  as 
well  as  foreign  foes,  it  does  not  follow  from 
these  premises  that  the  man  who  so  recently 
sought  to  destroy  the  government  is  as  safe 
to  intrust  with  the  reins  of  control  as  he  who 
imperiled  his  life  to  maintain  it.  (Good!) 

"The  recollection  of  the  past  is  yet  too  vivid 
all  over  the  land,  and  will  remain  so  until 
experience  has  abundantly  demonstrated  that 


188     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

the  fire  has  ceased  to  burn  in  the  hot  and 
smouldering  ashes  of  treason. 

"We  passed  through  a  political  campaign 
recently  in  which  we  were  constantly  told  that 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  American  people  to  for 
get  the  war,  its  blood,  its  trials  and  its  conse 
quences.  It  was  said  to  be  the  duty  of  the 
people  to  think  and  to  act  as  though  it  had 
never  been.  We  were  asked  to  do  an  impos 
sibility.  It  can  never  be  forgotten.  The 
Lethean  river  of  the  Greek  mythology  could 
not  produce  such  oblivion.  The  people  of 
this  country  never  did  forget  a  war.  Did 
they  forget  that  there  were  Tories  in  the 
Revolution?  After  many  years  they  removed 
the  political  disabilities  from  them,  but  was 
one  of  them  ever  intrusted  with  political 
power  by  the  suffrage  of  the  people?  Not 
one  instance  in  all  history.  (Applause.) 

"Did  the  people  forget  that  portion  of  the 
Federal  party  that  arrayed  itself  in  even  a 
qualified  opposition  to  the  War  of  1812?  They 
placed  no  political  disabilities  upon  them,  yet 
as  a  political  party  it  was  destroyed  forever. 
And  how  with  the  Mexican  War?  The  Whig 
party  filled  the  army  with  its  brave  young 
men,  and  furnished  many  of  its  best  officers, 
yet  the  party  at  home  opposed  it  as  a  war 
without  sufficient  cause,  and  for  doubtful  pur 
poses,  and  it  died  utterly  from  that  opposition. 

"No  political  party  in  this  country,  as  a 


STATE  LEADER  189 

political  party,  has  survived  opposition  to  any 
war  in  which  the  government  engaged.  Much 
less  can  it  be  so  of  a  war  that  involved  the 
life  of  the  nation  itself;  and  why  should  it  not 
be  so?  Pray  tell  me,  where  is  the  motive,  the 
incentive  to  patriotism,  if,  when  the  struggle 
is  over,  he  who  sought  to  destroy  the  govern 
ment  to  which  he  owed  allegiance,  is  to  be 
exalted  over  him  who  imperiled  his  life  in  its 
defense?  The  young  men  of  the  country 
should  be  taught  no  such  lesson.  No  govern 
ment  on  earth  could  maintain  itself  under 
such  a  policy. 

"Mr.  Chairman,  the  hope  and  safety  of  the 
country  today,  as  in  the  past,  exists  hi  the 
continued  success  of  the  Republican  party.  It 
is  not  faultless,  and  bad  men  can  be  found  in 
its  ranks,  as  everywhere  else  hi  human  society; 
but  its  face  is  set  in  the  right  direction,  its 
vision  is  forward,  not  backward;  it  reaches 
upward  and  not  downward,  while  all  experi 
ence  shows  that  the  Democratic  party  cannot 
safely  be  intrusted  with  power.  Wherever  it 
has  won  but  the  slightest  foothold  it  has 
betrayed  its  old  spirit  with  all  of  its  reaction 
ary  tendencies.  It  crops  out  today  all  over 
the  South  in  the  form  of  White  Men's  Leagues 
and  other  organizations  formed  for  the  pur 
pose  of  ostracising  a  race  of  black  men  and 
all  white  men  that  dare  differ  from  them. 
These  are  but  the  inspiring  effects  of  Demo- 


190  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

cratic  victories  in  some  of  the  Northern 
states,  which  lead  a  bad  element  in  the  South 
to  hope  for  Democratic  ascendancy,  and  show 
clearly — far  too  clearly — what  the  condition 
of  every  man  in  the  South,  white  or  black, 
who  sustained  the  government  during  the 
war,  would  immediately  become  should  that 
event  occur. 

Pledge  of  Security  to  the  Freedman: 

"I  would  say  nothing  to  exasperate  the  pub 
lic  mind  upon  this  or  any  other  question;  but 
it  is  but  just  to  say  that  a  disposition  now 
seems  too  manifest  to  undo  the  work  of 
reconstruction,  and  to  crush  the  black  man 
betwixt  the  upper  and  the  nether  millstone, 
to  make  his  condition  worse  than  though  he 
were  a  slave,  to  make  his  liberty  and  his 
right  of  suffrage  but  as  ashes  and  apples  of 
Sodom  in  his  possession.  They  mistake  the 
public  sentiment.  The  negro  stood  faithful 
to  his  country's  blue  and  when  he  went  down 
into  the  thick  of  the  battle  with  you  and  your 
sons  and  brothers  on  behalf  of  a  government 
that  had  previously  but  done  him  wrong,  the 
people  of  the  country  swore,  as  by  an  inspira 
tion  coming  from  the  great  source  of  all  justice, 
that  though  the  tongue  should  cleave  to  the 
roof  of  the  mouth,  and  the  right  hand  forget 
its  cunning,  yet  the  negro  should  have  his 
right  forever:  and  they  will  keep  that  oath. 


STATE  LEADER  191 

"By  the  memory  of  common  cause  and  com 
mon  suffering,  by  all  the  early  political  his 
tory  of  this  nation,  and  by  all  the  patriot 
blood  that  has  been  shed,  the  people  have 
decreed  that,  while  the  escutcheons  of  social 
equality  are  beyond  and  outside  of  the 
province  of  government,  yet  civil  equality  shall 
belong  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  this  land 
forever. 

Tested  by  Deed,  not  by  Profession: 

"There  are  but  two  great  political  parties  in 
the  country,  and  all  political  history  has 
demonstrated  that  there  can  be  but  two  great 
parties  hi  the  field  for  any  length  of  time, 
each  contending  against  the  other.  The 
country,  therefore,  must  be  governed  either 
by  the  party  that  fought  for  the  Union,  or  by 
the  party  the  majority  of  whom  fought 
against  the  Union.  Choose  ye  between  the 
two.  Are  you  willing  as  Republicans,  are 
you  willing  as  citizens,  that  this  great  and 
mighty  change  should  occur  in  the  administra 
tion  of  either  state  or  national  affairs?  What 
has  the  Republican  party,  as  a  party,  done 
that  it  should  forfeit  the  public  confidence? 

"Saying  nothing  of  the  past,  what  has  the 
Democratic  party  of  the  present  hour  to  offer 
to  you  as  an  inducement  to  make  this  change? 
It  passes  volumes  of  resolutions,  I  admit,  in 
favor  of  economy  and  honesty,  and,  as  the 


192  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

New  York  Tribune  recently  said  of  the 
Democratic  platform  of  a  neighboring  state, 
'It  is  always  refreshing  to  read  resolutions 
upon  this  subject,  passed  by  a  party  out  of 
power,  and  seeking  for  power.'  But  what  has 
it  done  in  the  way  of  reform  in  any  state  in 
which  it  has  been  intrusted  with  power,  that 
commends  it  to  your  confidence?  Has  its 
legislation  been  superior  to  ours?  Has  its 
management  of  state  finances  excited  admira 
tion?  There  is  scarcely  a  Northern,  Eastern, 
or  Western  state  but  what,  under  Republican 
rule,  has  either  diminished  or  entirely  wiped 
out  its  state  indebtedness;  while  Tennessee, 
under  Democratic  administration,  has  in 
creased  her  indebtedness  thirteen  millions,  and 
Virginia,  a  state  claiming  to  be  a  model  of 
Democratic  government,  has  increased  hers 
by  twelve  millions,  the  State  of  Mississippi, 
controlled  absolutely  by  Republicans,  and, 
for  the  most  part,  by  very  black  Republicans 
(cheers),  has  increased  her  indebtedness  but 
three  millions,  an  indebtedness  she  will  pay, 
and  not  repudiate,  as  under  a  former  admin 
istration  (prolonged  applause);  and  in  Ken 
tucky,  if  we  may  believe  the  utterances  of 
the  great  Democratic  organ  of  the  South 
west,  the  Louisville  Courier-Journal,  a  state 
of  lawless  anarchy  exists;  and  in  Missouri, 
under  the  Democratic  administration,  huiran 
life  has  been  rendered  so  unsafe,  and  her  debt 


STATE  LEADER  193 

has  increased  so  frightfully,  that  the  people, 
with  Carl  Schurz  at  their  head,  are  aroused 
as  by  a  sense  of  impending  ruin,  and  will  hurl 
the  Democratic  party  to  the  earth  at  the 
coming  election,  with  all  its  false  pretensions 
of  honesty  upon  its  head.  (Applause.) 

"Yet,  in  the  face  of  these  facts,  the  Demo 
cratic  party,  strengthened  by  the  financial 
troubles  of  the  country,  are  seeking  to  per 
suade  the  people  to  reinstate  it  in  place  and 
power.  They  mistake  both  the  intelligence 
and  patriotism  of  the  people.  They  are  not 
ready  yet  to  take  so  important  and  dangerous 
a  step,  and  they  cannot  be  persuaded  to  do  so 
by  the  mere  catchword  of  politicians,  and  by 
vague  and  unmeaning  charges  against  those 
whom  they  have  heretofore  delighted  to 
honor.  (' That's  so!')  If  reform  is  neces 
sary,  they  will  seek  to  accomplish  it  through 
the  party  whose  movements  are  forward  and 
not  backward,  and  not  through  a  party  that 
has  been  shown  by  an  experience  of  years  to 
be  incapable  of  reforming  itself. 

"  The  river  Rhine,  it  hath  been  shown, 
Doth  wash  the  city  of  Cologne; 
But,  oh  ye  gods!  what  power  divine 
Can  ever  cleanse  the  Rhine?' 

Republican  State  Administration: 

"  I  now  turn  abruptly  for  a  few  moments  to  a 
discussion  of  the  affairs  of  our  state,  for  this 


194  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

is  to  be  an  election  of  state  as  well  as  of 
national  importance,  and  it  is  proper  that  they 
should  be  discussed.  For  fourteen  years  the 
Republicans  have  had  the  management  and 
responsibility  incident  thereto  of  the  legisla 
tion  and  the  financial  affairs  of  Pennsylvania, 
and,  I  say,  now,  in  this  great  presence,  and 
with  some  knowledge  of  the  truthfulness  of 
what  I  say,  that  the  financial  management  of 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania  for  these  fourteen 
years  challenges  the  admiration  and  approval 
of  the  intelligent  world.  They  came  into 
power  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  with 
a  debt  upon  the  commonwealth,  funded  and 
unfunded,  of  over  forty  millions  of  dollars, 
with  her  credit  in  doubt  and  her  securities 
depreciated  everywhere.  In  the  foreign  mar 
kets  her  bonds  were  but  the  subject  of  ridicule 
and  jest.  And  during  these  fourteen  years 
they  have  reduced  the  state  debt  by  an 
annual  average  of  over  one  million  dollars. 

"In  addition  to  this  they  paid  a  temporary 
war  loan  of  three  millions  of  dollars.  They 
have  appropriated  from  five  hundred  thou 
sand  to  one  million  dollars  per  annum  to  the 
support  of  the  common  schools,  and  for  the 
last  eight  years  have  appropriated  annually 
from  three  to  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
to  the  maintenance  of  soldiers'  orphan 
schools — the  noblest  charity  the  sun  ever 
shone  upon.  They  have  appreciated  the 


STATE  LEADER  195 

bonds  of  the  state  until  they  are  sought  for 
in  financial  circles  everywhere  as  permanent 
investments,  her  six  per  cent  currency  bonds 
being  worth  at  last  quotations  eleven  per  cent 
premium. 

"To  accomplish  all  this  have  they  increased 
taxation?  Have  they  laid  burdens  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  masses  grievous  to  be  borne? 
No.  They  have  reduced  taxation  on  personal 
property  from  three  mills  to  two  and  one- 
half  mills  per  cent,  and  in  1866  they  swept 
the  state  tax  entirely  off  real  estate,  from 
which  the  commonwealth  derived  an  annual 
income  of  one  million  four  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars.  (Applause.)  They 
have  reduced  taxation  for  state  purposes,  and, 
in  every  way  possible,  lightened  the  burden 
of  the  state  government.  (Applause.)  Could 
our  Democratic  friends  have  done  better  than 
this,  had  they  been  in  power?  Has  any  one  a 
complaint  to  make?  Does  any  one  believe  it 
to  be  the  best  policy  for  the  state  government 
to  turn  out  of  power  the  party  that  has  accom 
plished  these  reforms  and  made  this  reduction 
in  our  state  debt,  for  the  purpose  of  reinstat 
ing  the  party  that  made  the  debt?  (Cries  of 
'No?'  'No!') 

"In  the  State  of  New  York  for  1872  the 
state  taxes  were  $18,550,000.  In  Massachu 
setts  the  same  year,  with  the  population  more 
than  one-third  less  than  ours,  the  state 


196     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

taxes  were  $11,874,000,  while  in  Pennsylvania 
they  were  but  $7,076,000. 

"And  during  all  these  years  of  Republican 
control,  notwithstanding  the  vague  talks 
about  'Rings,'  and  frauds  and  corruption, 
in  which  our  opponents  have  indulged  them 
selves,  no  man  can  point  to  a  dollar  lost  to 
the  treasury  by  the  default  or  negligence  of  any 
one  of  its  treasurers. 

"I  say  again,  that  our  administration  of 
state  finances  commends  itself  to  the  admira 
tion  of  the  world.  The  New  York  Evening 
Post,  in  October  last,  although  a  paper  of 
such  eminent  conservatism  that  it  finds  but 
little  in  the  world  to  commend,  published  an 
editorial  upon  the  financial  policy  of  Penn 
sylvania,  and  concluded  by  declaring  that  in 
no  state  hi  the  Union  were  the  state  taxes  so 
cheaply  collected,  and  so  directly  and  hon 
estly  disbursed,  as  in  this  state. 

"No  state  has  excelled  ours  in  its  magnificent 
appropriations  to  public  charities,  and  when 
it  was  determined  to  celebrate  the  Centennial 
of  our  American  Independence  in  this,  the 
city  of  its  birth,  she  patriotically  stepped  to 
the  front  with  her  contribution  of  one  million 
of  dollars. 

"Every  citizen  of  Pennsylvania,  whatever 
his  political  proclivities,  has  just  reason  to  be 
proud  of  our  present  state  administration, 
particularly  of  its  chief  executive  officer,  Gov- 


STATE  LEADER  197 

ernor  John  F.  Hartranft.  He  was  a  true  and 
brave  officer  during  all  the  long  years  of  the 
war.  He  was  an  upright  and  just  Auditor 
General  for  more  than  six  years.  Yet  the 
Democratic  efforts  for  his  defeat  when  a 
candidate  for  the  position  he  now  holds  are 
unparalleled  in  the  history  of  political  war 
fare.  He  was  covered  with  shame  and 
reproach  as  with  a  garment.  Yet  he  was  tri 
umphantly  elected,  and  from  the  hour  of  his 
inauguration  until  the  present  moment,  no 
newspaper  in  the  commonwealth  or  else 
where,  no  individual  of  any  shade  of  political 
belief,  has  been  able  to  point  to  a  single  act 
of  his  administration  that  will  not  bear  the 
light  of  the  most  intelligent  and  scrutinizing 
criticism. 

Personal  Detraction  as  a  Political  Weapon: 

"It  seemed  to  me,  during  that  contest,  that 
the  time  had  come  in  American  politics  where 
there  was  no  longer  any  motive  or  incentive  to 
honesty  among  public  men.  The  charge  of 
dishonesty  and  corruption  is  as  easily  made 
against  an  individual  of  unflinching  integrity 
as  against  an  abandoned  thief.  And,  indeed, 
this  system  of  personal  detraction  has  been 
carried  to  such  an  alarming  extent  that  the 
public  can  no  longer  discern,  from  the  surface 
of  a  campaign,  between  an  individual  fit  for 
public  station  and  one  utterly  unfit,  and  I 


198  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

know  of  really  no  policy  for  the  political 
aspirant  to  pursue  except  to  stand  to  his  integ 
rity,  preserve  his  own  self-respect  and  let  the 
storm  of  personal  detraction  pass  over  him  as 
it  may. 

The  Democratic  Record: 

"What  are  the  distinctive  principles  of  the 
Democratic  party  today,  and  what  have  they 
been  during  the  entire  period  of  Republican 
ascendency?  What  were  they  during  the 
war,  except  dissent  from  every  position 
assumed  by  the  Republican  party,  step  by 
step,  and  year  by  year,  as  time  rolled  on  and 
taught  its  lessons  of  public  emergency  and 
public  necessities? 

"First  came  the  declaration  of  the  utter 
want  of  constitutional  power  in  the  General 
Government  to  coerce  a  rebellious  state,  then 
an  utter  dissent  from  all  measures  to  which  the 
administration  resorted  to  raise  money  neces 
sary  for  the  maintenance  of  the  army  and 
the  public  credit. 

"You  all  remember  with  what  utter  con 
tempt  they  received  the  first  issue  of  govern 
ment  paper  money.  Not  a  Democratic  print 
in  the  whole  land  but  pronounced  the  whole 
issue  as  unconstitutional  and  valueless.  In 
that  hour  of  extremity,  when  the  issue  of 
paper  money  must  be  made  or  the  government 
utterly  fail,  but  three  Democratic  members  of 


STATE  LEADER  199 

Congress  could  be  found  to  vote  for  the  bill, 
and  yet  at  the  last  session,  when  the  extreme  ne 
cessity  had  passed  away,  the  Democrats  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  voted  thirty-six  to 
thirty-four  in  favor  of  issuing  more  of  the  same 
currency.  Then,  in  the  order  of  events,  came 
the  most  violent  and  unrelenting  opposition 
to  Lincoln's  Proclamation  of  Emancipation; 
then  opposition  to  putting  the  negro  into  the 
army  that  he  might  fight  for  his  freedom  and 
his  country;  then  came  determined  opposition 
to  the  reconstruction  amendments  of  1866; 
then  opposition,  long  and  prolonged,  to  the 
amendment  granting  suffrage  to  the  colored 
man,  and  yet,  in  1872,  they  adopted  the  Cin 
cinnati  platform,  which  cordially  approved  of 
all  these  measures,  and  took  Horace  Greeley, 
who  had  but  recently  been  the  representative 
man  of  the  opposition,  as  their  candidate  for 
President.  (Loud  cheers.)  The  Cincinnati 
platform  went  even  further  than  this,  and 
declared  as  resolution  No.  1:  'We  recognize 
the  equality  of  all  men  before  the  law,  and 
hold  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  government  in 
its  dealings  with  the  people,  to  mete  out 
equal  and  exact  justice  to  all,  of  whatever 
nation,  race,  color  or  persuasion*  (applause), 
embodying  in  the  strongest  Anglo-Saxon 
words  to  be  found,  the  very  essence  of  Sum- 
ner's  Civil  Rights  bill  of  the  last  session, 
against  which  every  Democratic  Senator  voted. 


200     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

I  have  said  that  the  Democratic  party  was 
reactionary  in  its  tendencies. 

"In  its  platform  at  Pittsburgh,  it  declared  the 
principles  of  the  Civil  Rights  bill  to  be  inju 
rious  to  the  black  man  as  well  as  to  the  white, 
and  that  it  was  'an  unconstitutional  invasion 
of  the  rights  of  the  states.'  These  words, 
'an  unconstitutional  invasion  of  the  rights 
of  the  states5  were  thrown  in  because  they 
had  them  still  on  hand.  They  can  be  found 
in  every  Democratic  platform,  state  or  na 
tional,  from  the  inception  of  the  war  to  1872; 
applied  to  every  measure  of  the  Republican 
party  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion 
and  the  government  of  the  country,  and 
as  they  travel  backwards  they  begin  again 
to  use  them,  and  now  all  over  the  South 
they  form  White  Men's  Leagues  and 
prattle  again  about  a  white  man's  government. 
(Applause.) 

Responsibility  for  Hard  Times: 

"What  new  principle  in  government,  or 
what  earnest  elaboration  of  old  principles  do 
they  now  present  to  the  popular  consider 
ation?  None  whatever.  Hanging  upon 
'craggy  edges  of  remorse,  anxiety  and 
despair,'  the  panic  is  the  breast  from  which 
they  suckle  the  hope  of  success,  and  in  their 
platform  at  Pittsburgh  they  actually  charge 
responsibility  for  the  panic  upon  the  admin- 


STATE  LEADER  201 

istration.  Just  how  the  administration 
could  be  charged  with  the  financial  disturb 
ances  in  the  country,  they,  of  course,  fail 
to  state. 

"They  might  as  well  have  held  the  party  in 
power  responsible  for  the  visit  of  the  grass 
hopper  or  the  potato  bug.  Who  ever  heard  the 
administration  of  James  Buchanan  charged 
with  the  far  greater  financial  troubles  of  1857, 
or  an  earlier  administration  charged  with  the 
disasters  of  1842?  Who  ever  heard  the  Brit 
ish  Parliament  or  the  British  Queen  held 
responsible  for  the  various  financial  diffi 
culties  encountered  in  England  during  the 
last  fifty  years?  Nobody  is  responsible  for  a 
panic.  They  come  unannounced,  unexpected 
and  unexplained.  They  puzzle  the  philosophy 
of  the  wisest,  and  set  at  naught  all  business 
rules;  but  if  the  billion  and  a  half  of  gold  and 
silver  that  has  been  mined  in  this  country 
since  1850  had  been  kept  in  the  country 
instead  of  being  sent  abroad  to  purchase 
articles  that  we  might  have  manufactured 
ourselves,  no  panic  would  have  occurred. 
(Tremendous  applause.) 

"When  we  are  wise  enough  to  adopt  the 
great  principle  of  self-protection,  which  is  as 
applicable  to  nations  as  to  individuals,  our 
era  of  panics  will  have  passed  away. 

"But  I  am  trespassing  upon  patience,  and 
must  hurry  these  remarks  to  a  close. 


202  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

Republican  Achievement: 

"I  have  said  that  the  Republican  party  was 
not  without  its  faults,  but  it  differs  from  any 
other  party  of  which  the  world  has  knowledge. 
It  exposes  its  own  corruptness  to  the  public 
gaze,  treads  it  under  foot  and  moves  onward. 

"The  present  Congress  at  its  last  session 
paid  its  own  postage — a  thing  no  Democratic 
Congress  ever  did  It  repealed  the  back  sal 
ary  law  and  annulled  the  Sanborn  contracts. 
It  cut  down  the  annual  expenses  of  the  govern 
ment  by  seventy-seven  millions,  and  the 
reduction  of  the  public  debt  still  goes  on. 

"The  Republican  party,  during  all  its  years 
of  supremacy,  has  accepted  with  sublime 
courage  the  duties  of  the  hour.  It  sup 
pressed  a  gigantic  rebellion  and  emancipated 
4,000,000  slaves,  and  decreed  universal  suf 
frage  and  equal  citizenship;  it  established  a 
uniform  national  currency  and  sustained  the 
public  debt  under  most  extraordinary  bur 
dens;  reduced  national  taxation  from  the 
fearful  rate  imposed  at  the  close  of  the  war 
till  its  burden  is  unfelt  and  unappreciated  by 
the  citizens,  and  at  the  same  time  reduced  the 
national  debt  at  an  annual  average  of  one  hun 
dred  millions  of  dollars;  it  established  a  great 
principle  of  national  rights  and  national 
responsibilities,  and  recovered  thereby  fifteen 
millions  of  dollars  from  the  British  Govern 
ment  for  the  Alabama  claims,  teaching  all 


STATE  LEADER  203 

the  world  that  'peace  hath  her  victories  no 
less  renowned  than  war.'  (Enthusiastic 
applause.)  Is  any  one  weak  enough  to 
believe  that  the  people  will  now  intrust  the 
government  to  the  control  of  any  party  or 
combination  of  men  that  opposed,  for  the  most 
part,  every  step  of  this  great  progress?  No; 
the  Republican  party  has  established  its  prin 
ciples  in  the  laws  and -in  the  constitution  of 
the  country,  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  in  the 
very  soil  of  the  American  continent,  and  it  will 
govern  the  country  it  has  saved."  (Applause.) 

The  text  of  this  address,  or  oration,  as 
termed  in  the  newspaper  head-lines,  was 
published  at  length  in  several  of  the  Philadel 
phia  journals  on  the  day  following  its  delivery. 
The  manner  in  which  it  was  received  by  the 
public  is  not  only  to  be  determined  by  the 
applause  with  which  it  was  greeted  at  the 
time,  but  also  by  such  editorial  comment  as 
the  following: 

"There  was  great  interest  evinced  to  hear 
Judge  Olmsted  speak,  for  the  position  of 
Lieutenant-Governor  is  so  distinguished  a 
one  that  it  is  felt  only  a  man  of  signal  ability 
should  be  elevated  to  it.  If  there  were  any 
doubts  entertained  by  those  who  did  not 
know  Judge  Olmsted,  of  his  peculiar  fitness 
for  the  office  to  which  he  was  nominated,  they 


204  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

were  removed  before  he  had  spoken  five 
minutes.  His  strong,  incisive  language,  cloth 
ing  profound  thoughts,  immediately  stamped 
him  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  thinkers 
and  orators  ever  heard  in  public  in  this  city, 
and  proved  the  wisdom  of  his  selection  by 
the  convention."1 

Up  to  the  very  eve  of  election  a  majority  for 
Judge  Olmsted  was  counted  upon  with  con 
fidence.  As  late  as  October  29th,  the  Phila 
delphia  Press  said  editorially: 

"Hon.  Arthur  G. 'Olmsted  will  carry  the 
West  like  a  storm." 

The  election  occurred  on  the  3d  of  Novem 
ber.  On  the  5th  of  that  month  the  Daily 
Evening  Telegraph  said: 

"Judge  Olmsted,  Republican  candidate  for 
Lieutenant-Governor,  leads  his  ticket  here 
and  elsewhere,  and  may  possibly  be  elected 
by  a  small  majority,  but  the  chances  appear 
to  be  against  him." 

For  three  days  the  result  was  in  doubt. 
On  Wednesday  the  Philadelphia  Press  (Repub 
lican)  claimed  the  election  of  the  state  ticket. 
On  Thursday  it  said:  "We  do  not  give  up 

»  Daily  Evening  Tekgraph,  Philadelphia,  October  12,  1874. 


STATE  LEADER  205 

the  state."  On  Friday  it  printed  a  table 
showing  a  plurality  of  356  for  Latta.  His 
plurality,  as  officially  recorded,  was  4,679. 
The  temperance  candidate  received  4,649 
votes.  Hence  if  Judge  Olmsted  had  received 
the  temperance  vote,  to  which  his  principles 
and  services  in  the  cause  of  prohibition 
entitled  him,  he  would  have  lacked  but 
thirty-one  votes  of  a  majority.  It  is  plain 
that  he,  a  most  effective  advocate  of  tem 
perance,  having  a  prohibition  county  behind 
him,  was  defeated  by  the  prohibitionists  and 
liquor  men  together,  a  result  that  has  doubtless 
retarded  the  cause  of  prohibition  in  Penn 
sylvania.  Although  Judge  Olmsted  may 
have  regarded  the  result 

"As  the  struck  eagle  stretched  upon  the  plain 
Viewed  his  own  feather  on  the  fatal  dart," 

nevertheless  he  was  always  unswerving  in  his 
devotion  to  the  cause.  When  the  question 
of  repeal  of  prohibition  in  Potter  County 
subsequently  arose,  Judge  Olmsted  was  quoted 
as  unalterably  opposed  to  it. 

The  general  reverse  of  the  Republicans 
throughout  the  country  amounted,  however, 
to  a  landslide,  and  sufficiently  accounted  for 


206  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

the  result  in  Pennsylvania.  It  must  have 
been  a  matter  of  some  personal  gratification  to 
Judge  Olmsted  that  his  vote  exceeded  that  of 
General  Beath,  the  exceedingly  popular  can 
didate  for  Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs,  and 
that  of  the  late  Chief  Justice  Paxson  for 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  high-water  mark  had  been  reached  in 
the  history  of  the  Republican  party  of  Penn 
sylvania.  It  had  come  to  the  turning  point. 
Hitherto  its  policy  had  been  guided  by  the 
wisdom  of  such  counselors  as  Stevens,  Wilmot 
Ulysses  Mercur,  Thomas  Williams,  Alexander 
McClure,  W.  D.  Kelley,  Glenni  W.  Scofield, 
Edward  McPherson  and  Arthur  G.  Olmsted. 
If  Senator  Olmsted  had,  by  the  turn  of  a  vote 
here  and  there  in  less  than  half  the  precincts, 
or  say,  a  single  vote  in  two-thirds  of  the  wards 
and  townships,  been  elected  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  he,  instead  of  Wallace,  in  the 
natural  course  of  events,  would  have  passed 
from  the  presidency  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Senate  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States; 
the  need  would  not  have  arisen  to  call  the 
younger  Cameron  from  the  presidency  of  the 
Northern  Central  Railroad,  nor  to  have 
sought  new  leadership  for  the  party,  which, 


STATE  LEADER  207 

however  sagacious  and  skilful,  should  be 
destined  to  bring  a  degree  of  reproach  rather 
than  of  honor  to  the  commonwealth,  and  to 
inflict  upon  it  the  loss  in  good  measure  of  the 
prestige  to  which  it  had  become  entitled  as 
the  birthplace  of  the  party  of  Fremont  and 
Lincoln,  in  whose  borders  it  had  rung  the 
bell  of  liberty  to  the  Southern  slave,  and 
raised  the  standard  of  protection  to  American 
labor. 


CHAPTER  XII 

As  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE 

THE  will  of  the  people  had  been  regis 
tered  in  the  established  way,  the 
Pennsylvania  Legislature  elected  a 
Democratic  Senator,  and  both  branches  of 
Congress  passed  into  Democratic  control. 
Judge  Olmsted  returned  to  the  long-deferred 
demands  of  his  profession.  It  can  hardly 
be  said  that  his  practice  had  suffered  in 
his  absence,  for  in  his  several  legislative 
terms,  as  well  as  through  his  judicial  experi 
ence,  his  reputation  for  learning  and  legal 
ability  had  become  enhanced,  so  that  upon 
return  to  his  office  abundant  professional 
business  awaited  him. 

In  his  own  and  adjoining  counties  he 
was  retained  in  nearly  all  important  litiga 
tion  so  long  as  he  continued  in  practice. 
Contemporary  lawyers  speak  of  him  in 
reminiscent  letters.  Hon.  J.  C.  Johnson, 
hereinbefore  quoted,  a  former  member  of  the 
state  legislature,  and  for  many  years  at  the 

(208) 


AS  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE       209 

head  of  the  bar  in  Cameron  County,  thus 
writes : 

"Upon  my  admission  to  the  bar  in  1866 
he  came  under  my  observation  as  a  lawyer. 
When  I  began  practice,  -  Cameron  County 
was  in  the  old  fourth  judicial  district  with 
Potter  County.  Hon.  Robert  G.  White  was 
the  president  judge  and  Hon.  Henry  W. 
Williams  associate  judge.  The  latter  suc 
ceeded  Judge  White  as  president  judge,  and  hi 
1871  Stephen  F.  Wilson  became  associate 
judge.  In  1882  Judge  Olmsted  succeeded  Wil 
son  as  associate  judge,  and  in  1883  he  became 
president  judge  of  the  48th  district,  com 
posed  of  Potter  and  McKean  counties,  and 
he  retired  at  the  end  of  his  term,  in  1902,  as 
president  judge  of  the  55th  district,  the 
county  of  Potter.  His  long  career  at  the 
bar  was  during  a  period  of  great  advancement 
and  important  development  in  the  northern 
counties  of  Elk,  Cameron,  McKean,  Pot 
ter  and  Tioga,  where  he  had  an  extensive 
and  lucrative  practice.  He  was  always  a 
leader  at  the  bar.  His  learning  was  acknowl 
edged,  his  keen  judgment  of  men  and  his 
knowledge  of  affairs,  and  his  remarkable 
power  of  clear  and  logical  statement  won  ver 
dicts  from  juries  and  decisions  from  judges, 
and  gave  him  acknowledged  leadership.  His 
integrity  was  of  such  a  well-known  and  high 
character  that  his  friends  sometimes  said  he 

14 


210  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

was  so  straight  that  he  leaned  backwards — 
intending  to  express  the  opinion  that  in  a  con 
troversy  where  a  friend  of  his  was  interested, 
he  was  so  careful  not  to  be  chargeable  with 
partiality  that  there  was  a  probability  that 
his  friend  would  suffer. 

"The  period  covered  by  Judge  Olmsted's 
active  life  was  for  the  old  fourth  district  a 
very  important  one.  The  counties  of  Tioga, 
Potter,  McKean,  Elk  and  Cameron  con 
tained  great  wealth  that  awaited  develop 
ment:  Lumber,  coal,  clay,  oil  and  gas. 
There  was  need  of  new  and  important  legis 
lation  and  the  interpretation  of  new  laws. 
Railroads  were  to  be  constructed.  Booms 
for  lumber  operations  and  highways  were  to 
be  opened.  Schools  were  to  be  provided  and 
all  the  needs  of  a  rapidly  increasing  popula 
tion  were  to  be  provided.  Judge  Olmsted 
has  left  the  impress  of  his  ability  upon  this 
work  perhaps  more  than  any  other  citizen  of 
Potter  County. 

"He  was  successful  also  in  business,  as  the 
magnitude  of  his  estate  attests.  He  never 
attempted  to  reap  where  he  had  not  sown,  and 
his  success  in  business  came  through  his  fore 
sight  and  good  judgment  and  his  confident 
reliance  on  action  as  they  directed  him. 

"Judge  Olmsted  was  admirably  equipped  for 
the  practice  of  the  law  in  the  field  where  he 
undertook  it  at  the  time  he  was  admitted. 


AS  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE       211 

He  both  knew  and  understood  the  plain  peo 
ple.  He  could  talk  with  the  countryman  about 
the  things  that  he  knew  interested  him  in  his 
daily  life.  He  knew  as  well  courtly  people 
and  readily  carried  on  negotiations  with 
dignitaries  who  held  the  highest  state  interests 
in  their  hands.  He  was  possessed  of  a  high 
degree  of  intellectuality.  His  tastes  led  him 
in  legal  battles  into  the  center  of  the  arena. 
He  enjoyed  the  legal  conflict  and  he  broke  his 
professional  lance  with  the  opponent,  and 
bore  off  on  his  shield  the  honors  of  the  fray 
with  great  dignity. 

"He  knew  literature  and  history,  and  he 
appropriated  and  enjoyed  the  wisest  sayings 
and  brightest  scintillations  of  master  minds. 
He  was  learned  in  the  law,  and  was  able  to 
command  his  most  effective  weapons  for 
instant  use  in  the  heat  of  the  conflict  with 
either  court  or  jury.  He  came  on  when  titles 
were  open  to  contest  and  land  law  became 
important.  In  the  courts  common  law  forms 
had  given  way  to  modern  and  practical  direct 
ness  and  simplicity,  and  the  mind  of  the 
lawyer  and  the  judge  was  free  to  grasp  the 
essentials  in  his  case.  Judge  Olmsted  entered 
the  lists  under  favorable  conditions  for  the 
practice  of  the  law,  and  was  called  upon  in 
his  early  practice  to  work  out  first-time  solu 
tions  of  difficult  questions  arising  in  and  relat 
ing  to  land  titles  and  the  lumber  industry. 


212  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

"He  was  a  most  companionable  man,  and 
yet  he  lacked  some  of  the  elements  of  a  popu 
lar  and  appealing  character.  I  mean  that  he 
was  not  a  wit  and  raconteur  as  Wilson  was, 
and  did  not  attract  the  following  of  the  *  boys ' 
as  Wilson  did. 

"I  recall  when  he  was  candidating  for  his 
first  nomination  as  judge  we  had  a  protracted 
contest.  Wilson  could  corral  the  delegates 
and  entertain  them  so  they  would  shout  with 
glee,  while  Olmsted  could  only  retreat  to  some 
place  where  unsavory  fragments  of  the  stories 
could  not  offend  his  ears.  When  the  vote 
was  counted,  however,  it  was  found  that 
Wilson  had  only  the  'hurrahs;'  Olmsted  had 
the  votes. 

"Judge  Olmsted's  career  was  successful  and 
honorable  as  a  man,  a  citizen,  a  lawyer  and  a 
judge,  and  affords  an  example  for  us  all." 

In  the  memorial  resolutions  adopted  by  the 
Potter  County  bar,  this  passage  occurs: 

"In  all  the  traditions  of  his  successes,  his 
singular  resourcefulness,  shrewdness,  and  abil 
ity,  and  his  instant  grasp  of  every  legitimate 
advantage  in  the  practice  of  law,  there  is  no 
hint  or  insinuation  of  any  action  on  his  part 
not  in  strict  accord  with  the  highest  ethics  of 
the  profession.  His  former  associates  always 
commented  upon  the  wonderful  accuracy  with 


AS  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE       213 

which    he    forecast    the    procedure    of    his 
adversary/' 

So  also  the  bar  of  the  City  of  Bradford,  in 
its  resolutions,  declares  that 

"In  the  culminating  period  of  his  practice 
at  the  bar,  no  lawyer  in  Western  Pennsylvania 
was  considered  more  effective  before  a  jury 
or  in  the  argument  of  questions  of  law." 

The  following  is  the  estimate  of  a  cotem- 
porary  journalist:1 

"As  a  lawyer  he  was  keen,  analytical,  tact 
ful  and  resourceful.  In  those  early  years 
'decided  cases*  had  not  so  thoroughly  out 
lined  the  legal  practice  as  at  the  present  tune, 
and  the  legal  practitioner  was  often  compelled 
to  resort  to  reason  and  logic,  to  supply  the 
place  of  the  judicially  determined  law,  to  win 
his  cases.  His  ready  wit  and  keen  insight  into 
human  character  made  him  a  formidable 
opponent  and  a  successful  trial  lawyer.  The 
great  number  and  variety  of  suits  arising  out 
of  early  oil  operations  in  McKean  and  War 
ren  counties  gave  full  opportunity  for  a  dis 
play  of  his  legal  learning  and  ability,  and  he 
was  engaged  in  nearly  every  important  suit 
of  that  busy  and  litigious  period.  Often 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  hung  in  the 


»  Potter  Journal,  September  23.  1914 


214  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

balance  in  suits  where  the  skilful  turning  of  a 
legal  hair  decided  the  matter  in  controversy. 
He  was  constantly  in  contact  with  many  of 
the  highest  legal  minds  of  the  state,  but 
never  at  a  disadvantage  or  discredit  to  him 
self.  He  was  strong,  not  only  with  the 
court,  but  also  before  the  jury.  He  was 
recognized  as  one  of  the  most  capable  advo 
cates  in  the  state.  The  chief  element  of  his 
success  before  both  judge  and  jury  was  his 
conservatism.  He  never  made  a  statement 
to  either  judge  or  jury  that  he  had  not  first 
convinced  himself  was  strictly  true.  His 
appeals  were  to  the  reason  rather  than  to 
the  passions.  Apparently  trivial  incidents  in 
a  case  were  so  tactfully  handled  as  to  become 
the  turning  point  in  many  a  legal  battle. 
His  practice  extended  over  Potter,  McKean 
and  Cameron  counties,  often  reaching  into 
other  courts  in  occasional  important  cases." 

Judge  Olmsted  enjoyed  the  relaxation  from 
the  strain  of  political  excitement  and  public 
service.  In  the  service  of  his  country  and 
his  commonwealth  he  had  well-nigh  given  his 
life.  For  the  highest  measure  of  success  in 
civil  life  the  physical  powers  are  requisite 
which  are  demanded  for  military  service. 
The  impairment  of  his  health  was  a  matter  of 
grave  solicitude  to  his  friends  throughout  the 


AS  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE       215 

state,   often  manifested  in  their  correspon 
dence.     He  was  glad  to  take  up  the  responsi 
bilities  and  duties  of  common  citizenship,  and 
to  enjoy  its  varied  compensations.    It  pleased 
him  to  have  thrust  upon  him,  as  it  were,  the 
appointment  of  street  commissioner,1  and  he 
undertook  the  duties  with  much  zeal  and  char 
acteristic  efficiency.     The  soldiers'  monument 
subscription  had  flagged  in  his  absence.    He 
resumed  responsibility  for  it,  and  in  due  time 
published,  over  his  own  signature,  a  carefully 
itemized  account  of  receipts  and  expenditures. 
The  subscription  list  included  the  names  of 
Peter  Herdic,  Judge  Williams,  Judge  Wilson, 
M.  E.  Olmsted,  Captain  J.  C.  Johnson,  Col. 
W.   Dwight,  Stebbins,  Mann,  Jones,  Ross, 
Knox,  Ormerod,  and  many  others.      Up  to 
that  time  the  work  had  cost  $1,177.21.     The 
excess  of  payments  over  receipts  was  $248.95. 
The  contract  was  let  to  Joseph  Schwartzen- 
burg  for  $750.00,  but  the  price  was  inadequate. 
"It  cost  at  least  one  hundred  dollars,"  says 
the  report,  "to  move  the  three  large  stones 
from  the  quarries  to  the  place  where  they  were 
finally  dressed.     This  work  was  generously 
done  by  farmers  in  the  vicinity,  who  had 

»  Potter  Journal,  March  11,  1875. 


216  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

suitable  teams,  without  charge."  The  initial 
meeting  in  this  public  enterprise  was  held 
September  20, 1869,  at  which  time  the  project 
was  put  in  the  hands  of  a  committee  of  four: 
Captain  Kinney,  Captain  Horton,  Hon. 
Arthur  G.  Olmsted  and  S.  S.  Greenman.  The 
memorial  column  was  raised  December  20, 
1874,  but  it  was.  not  until  April,  1887,  that 
the  statue  of  a  soldier  was  placed  on  the 
shaft. 

During  all  these  years  there  was  no  relin- 
quishment  of  the  railroad  project  which  was 
to  connect  Coudersport  with  the  civilized 
world,  and  bring  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
county  the  blessings  and  advantages  which 
its  means  of  development  would  afford.  Judge 
Olmsted  was  still  the  central  figure  at  the 
hearthstone  within  which  the  fire  of  this 
purpose  was  kept  burning.  At  a  meeting  of 
the  stockholders  of  the  Jersey  Shore,  Pine 
Creek  and  Buffalo  Railway  Company,  held 
January  14,  1878,  John  S.  Ross  was  elected 
president,  and  Arthur  G.  Olmsted,  Arch  F. 
Jones,  Charles  H.  Armstrong,  Pierre  A.  Steb- 
bins,  Jr.,  William  K.  Jones  and  D.  C.  Larrabee 
were  elected  directors.  Between  Jersey  Shore 
and  Coudersport  the  project  had  become 


AS  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE       217 

stalled.  The  Reading  Railroad  Company, 
which  had  assisted,  withdrew  its  co-operation, 
and  in  1876  work  had  ceased.  Attention  was 
finally  directed  to  securing  by  an  independent 
movement  the  right  of  way  between  Couders- 
port  and  Port  Allegany. 

About  this  time,  in  the  winter  of  1879,  the 
Tidewater  Pipe  Line  Company  established  a 
telegraph  office  at  Coudersport.  The  Phila 
delphia  Record,  in  its  issue  of  the  20th  of 
February,  said: 

"We  welcome  the  people  of  Coudersport 
into  the  electric  circle  that  holds  the  world 
together  in  quick  intelligence." 

The  Potter  Journal,  in  a  little  later  issue 
(March  6),  hailing  this  achievement,  reviews 
the  steps  of  progress  since  its  establishment  in 
1848,  when  there  was  neither  railroad  nor 
telegraph  nearer  than  Hornellsville,  a  distance 
of  fifty-four  miles.  On  the  12th  day  of 
February,  1851,  the  cars  ran  through  to  Cuba, 
and  soon  after  a  daily  stage  was  started, 
and  the  mail  was  carried  six  times  a  week 
thenceforward  between  Wellsville  and 
Coudersport.  It  mentions  the  completion  of 
the  Philadelphia  and  Erie  Railroad  to  Em- 


218     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

porium  in  October,  1863,  soon  after  which  a 
daily  mail  was  carried  between  Emporium  and 
Coudersport.  The  Buffalo,  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  was  completed  January  1,  1873, 
from  Emporium  to  Buffalo. 

"These  progressive  steps,"  said  the  Journal, 
"have  all  worked  great  improvements  in  this 
county,  and  taken  all  together  have  reduced 
the  price  of  goods  in  Coudersport  at  least 
fifty  per  cent,  and  have  added  that  much  to 
the  comfort  of  living  here." 

Noting  the  completion  of  the  Tidewater 
telegraph  line  through  to  Williamsport,  it 
proceeds  to  say: 

"The  pipe  line  which  is  being  pushed  with 
great  vigor  is  soon  to  follow,  and  then  we  hope 
the  crowning  step — the  railroad!  Why  not? 
Is  there  not  as  much  undeveloped  wealth 
waiting  for  the  railroad  to  give  it  activity,  as 
for  the  pipe  line?" 

In  1881  George  Magee  and  his  associates 
had  come  into  control  of  the  right  of  way 
between  Coudersport  and  Port  Allegany,  and 
Judge  Olmsted,  together  with  F.  W.  Knox, 
having  organized  sufficient  capital  among  the 
citizens  of  Coudersport,  Olean  and  Smethport, 


AS  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE       219 

negotiated  with  Magee  for  the  right  of  way, 
and  finally  consummated  the  purchase. 
Thereupon  they  procured  incorporation  first 
as  the  Coudersport  and  Olean  Railroad  Com 
pany,  but  afterwards  changed  the  name  to 
Coudersport  and  Port  Allegany  Railroad 
Company.  Eight  directors  were  chosen, 
namely:  F.  W.  Knox,  president,  Arthur  G. 
Olmsted,  Isaac  Benson,  F.  H.  Root  of 
Buffalo,  A.  M.  Benton  of  Port  Allegany,  B.  D. 
Hamlin  of  Smethport,  C.  S.  Cary  and  C.  V.  B. 
Barse  of  Olean,  and  F.  H.  Arnot  of  Elmira. 
The  road  was  constructed,  and  on  the  26th  day 
of  September,  1882,  the  first  passenger  train 
ran  over  it  from  Port  Allegany  to  Coudersport. 
The  great  enterprise  which  had  so  long 
engaged  the  hopes  and  fears  of  the  people  of 
Potter  County  had  at  last  been  consummated. 
Further  development  of  railroad  lines 
through  the  county  came  in  rapid  sequence 
by  logical  stages.  The  conversion  of  the 
great  forests  into  lumber  and  chemical  wood 
necessitated  the  establishment  of  mills  and 
factories  of  immense  capacity,  particularly  at 
Austin  and  Gale  ton,  and  the  extension  to  them 
of  railroad  facilities.  The  discovery  of  natural 
gas  and  petroleum  along  the  western  border 


220  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

of  the  county,  where  the  timber  had  already 
been  depleted,  afforded  a  considerable  re 
inforcement  of  the  material  resources  of  the 
county  now  being  rapidly  developed.  The 
prediction  of  Judge  Olmsted,  addressing  the 
Pennsylvania  Senate,  of  the  disclosure  of 
unbounded  natural  wealth,  is  being  verified. 
The  population  of  Coudersport,  which  in  1880 
was  less  than  seven  hundred,  rapidly  ran  up 
to  more  than  three  thousand.  So  throughout 
the  county  new  towns  have  been  established, 
and  old  towns  have  prospered.  The  enter 
prise  of  the  citizens  of  the  county  seat  under 
the  quickening  hand  of  Judge  Olmsted  kept 
pace  with  the  public  need.  Thus,  in  1882, 
together  with  F.  W.  Knox  and  R.  L.  Nichols, 
he  organized  the  Citizens'  Water  Company  for 
the  supply  of  water  to  the  inhabitants.  The 
need  of  such  a  supply,  not  only  for  domestic 
uses,  but  also  for  fire  service,  had  been 
keenly  felt,  for,  in  1880,  on  the  25th  of  May, 
the  business  center  of  the  borough  was  fire- 
swept,  three  whole  squares  having  been  de 
stroyed,  including  blocks  of  stores  on  Main 
Street  and  on  both  sides  of  Second  Street. 
The  office  of  Olmsted  and  Larrabee  on  Second 
Street  was  burned.  They  found  temporary 


AS  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE 

desk-room  in  the  sheriff's  office  in  the  court 
house. 

The  time  came  when  the  inhabitants  of 
Coudersport  were  eager  to  enjoy  the  advan 
tages  of  natural  gas  for  light  and  fuel. 
Through  the  efforts  of  Judge  Olmsted,  W.  I. 
Lewis  and  others,  a  natural  gas  company  was 
organized  and  incorporated,  of  which  Judge 
Olmsted  was  chosen  president,  and  by  means 
of  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  borough  were 
afterwards  supplied  with  natural  gas. 

Throughout  this  period  of  his  political 
inactivity,  Judge  Olmsted's  counsel  was  occa 
sionally  sought  respecting  party  policy.  Once 
when  factional  division  became  threatening 
and  the  forthcoming  state  convention  prom 
ised  to  be  turbulent,  an  exigency  requiring 
the  services  of  a  veteran  parliamentarian, 
cool,  impartial,  experienced,  skilful — he 
yielded  to  the  call,  and  presided  over  the 
convention  with  distinction  and  success.  The 
interval  of  eight  years  succeeding  the  disas 
trous  canvass  of  1874  enabled  Judge  Olmsted 
to  carry  through  the  railroad  project  upon 
which  he  had  set  his  heart,  and  bring  to  a 
consummation  other  matters  affecting  public 
interests,  as  well  as  his  own. 


222     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

In  1882  he  succeeded  Hon.  Stephen  F. 
Wilson  as  additional  law  judge  of  the  fourth 
judicial  district,  composed  of  Potter,  Tioga, 
McKean  and  Cameron,  and  the  following 
year,  upon  a  reapportionment,  he  became  pre 
sident  judge  of  the  forty-eighth  district,  com 
posed  of  the  counties  of  McKean  and  Potter. 
In  1892  he  was  re-elected  and  by  subsequent 
re-apportionment  Potter  was  created  an  inde 
pendent  district,  of  which  he  became  president 
judge.  His  second  term  expired  in  1902. 
Hence  his  services  on  the  bench  were  con 
tinuous  for  a  period  of  twenty  years,  during 
which  exactly  one  hundred  volumes  (102d 
to  202d)  of  Supreme  Court  Reports  were 
issued.  Comparatively  few  appeals  were 
taken  from  his  decisions,  and  he  was  rarely 
reversed.  Among  the  appealed  cases  most 
frequently  cited  were  the  following: 

Jones  vs.  Backus,  114  Pa.,  120; 
Short  vs.  Miller,  120  Pa.,  470; 
Taylor  vs.  Wright,  126  Pa.,  617; 
Gates  vs.  Watt,  127  Pa.,  20; 
Pullman  vs.  Smith,  135  Pa.,  188; 
Titus  vs.  Railroad  Co.,  136  Pa.,  618; 
Edgett  vs.  Douglas,  144  Pa.,  95; 
Genesee-Fork  Imp.  Co.  vs.  Ivers,  144  Pa., 
114; 


AS  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE 

Wilmoth  vs.  Hensel,  151  Pa.,  200; 

Goodyear  vs.  Brown,  155  Pa.,  514; 

Warren  Gas  Light  Co.  vs.  Penna.  Gas  Co., 
161  Pa.,  510; 

Strong,  Deemer  &  Co.  vs.  Dininney,  175  Pa., 
586; 

National  Transit  Co.  vs.  Pipe  Line  Co., 
180  Pa.,  224; 

Miller  vs.  Bradford,  186  Pa.,  164; 

Western  New  York  &  Penna.  R.  R.  Co.  vs. 
Buffalo,  Rochester  &  Pittsburgh  Ry.  Co., 
186  Pa.,  212. 

Other  cases  came  to  trial  which  at  the 
time  were  regarded  as  of  transcendent  impor 
tance.  About  the  year  1890  a  series  of  eject 
ments  were  instituted  in  McKean,  Elk  and 
Cameron  counties,  wherein  the  McKean  and 
Elk  Land  and  Improvement  Company,  of 
which  the  venerable  Hon.  Henry  M.  Watts, 
formerly  Supreme  Court  reporter,  and  later 
United  States  Minister  to  Russia,  was  then 
president,  was  plaintiff,  and  William  Hacker 
and  Harry  G.  Clay,  prominent  citizens  of 
Philadelphia,  were  defendants.  These  suits 
were  brought  to  recover  large  tracts  of  land 
whose  value,  by  reason  of  the  discovery  of 
oil  and  gas  in  the  vicinity,  had  risen  to  great 
magnitude.  The  first  of  the  series  was  tried 


224  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

at  Smethport.  Judge  Olmsted  presided.  Dis 
tinguished  non-resident  lawyers  were  present 
and  took  part  in  the  trial,  including  Franklin 
B.  Gowen  and  William  W.  Wiltbank  of 
Philadelphia  (and  later  George  A.  Jenks  of 
Brookville),  for  the  plaintiff,  and  John  G. 
Johnson  and  E.  Hunn  Hanson  of  Philadel 
phia,  M.  F.  Elliott  of  Wellsboro  and  C.  H. 
McCauley  of  Ridgway,  for  the  defendants. 
Verdict  was  entered  for  the  defendants.  The 
second  case  was  tried  at  Ridgway  before  Judge 
Charles  A.  Mayer,  with  like  result.  Upon 
appeal  from  the  Elk  County  judgment  the 
decision  was  affirmed.  Incidentally,  this 
determination  was  a  judicial  vindication  of 
the  course  of  General  Thomas  L.  Kane  in  the 
transactions  involved. 

The  divorce  proceeding  of  Theodore  N. 
Barnsdall  (reported  in  171  Pa.,  625),  also  tried 
before  Judge  Olmsted,  at  Smethport,  in  which 
numerous  able  lawyers  were  employed,  at 
tracted  wide  attention,  chiefly  because  of  the 
prominence  of  the  plaintiff  in  business  circles, 
his  reputation  as  a  pioneer  oil  producer  and 
later  as  the  most  extensive  individual  operator 
in  the  United  States.  The  litigation  resulted 
in  a  verdict  for  the  defendant,  and  the 


AS  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE 

decision  rendered  lost  its  value  as  a  precedent 
by  reason  of  a  supplemental  enactment  pend 
ing  the  appeal. 

The  late  Hon.  Thomas  A.  Morrison,  a  judge 
of  the  Superior  Court,  and  for  several  years 
officially  associated  with  Judge  Olmsted  as 
additional  law  judge,  in  an  admirable  remi 
niscent  address,  spoke  as  follows: 

"My  first  personal  acquaintance  began 
with  Judge  Olmsted  early  in  the  year  1880, 
although  I  knew  him  well  by  reputation  as  a 
distinguished  lawyer  and  legislator  for  many 
years.  During  all  my  ultimate  relations 
with  Judge  Olmsted  as  a  lawyer  and  judge, 
I  never  discovered  any  wavering  on  his  part 
from  a  desire  to  discharge  his  duty  in  a  just 
and  equitable  manner  on  all  occasions.  The 
friendship  that  existed  between  him  and  me 
extended  over  many  years,  and  while  occasion 
ally  we  differed  upon  legal  questions,  there 
never  was  to  my  knowledge  the  slightest 
interruption  of  the  warm  friendship  that 
existed  between  us.  When  we  could  not 
agree  as  to  the  law  governing  a  case,  we  were 
always  able  to  agree  that  the  one  who  ought 
to  decide  the  case  should  proceed  with  it,  and 
if  the  counsel  desired  to  except,  we  always 
gave  him  that  privilege  so  that  he  could  carry 
his  case  to  the  Supreme  Court  and  have  it 

15 


ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 


determined  by  that  body.  I  am  confident 
that  nobody  ever  heard  Judge  Olmsted  criti 
cise  any  judicial  action  on  my  part,  and  I 
am  sure  that  I  never  said  anything  reflecting 
on  Judge  Olmsted's  great  ability  and  judicial 
fairness.  I  have  already  indicated  that  I 
regarded  Judge  Olmsted  as  a  very  remarkable 
man;  I  consider  that  he  had  one  of  the  finest 
minds  of  any  man  whose  personal  acquaintance 
I  was  privileged  to  form.  He  was  a  close 
thinker,  and  one  of  the  clearest  reasoners  on 
the  bench  in  Pennsylvania.  His  mind 
always  seemed  to  seek  for  the  correct  solu 
tion  of  every  question  that  came  before  him 
judicially." 

Near  the  close  of  his  judicial  career,  his 
"home  paper,"  the  Journal,1  said  of  Judge 
Olmsted: 

"The  retirement  at  the  end  of  his  term  was 
with  the  approving  plaudit  of  the  people  of  his 
district  as  having  been  an  honest,  fearless, 
capable  and  upright  judge.  Soon  after  his 
accession  to  the  bench  he  came  to  be  recog 
nized  as  one  of  the  most  capable  judges  in  the 
commonwealth.  His  legal  opinions  were 
quoted  with  high  respect  throughout  the 
courts  of  the  state,  and  in  the  Supreme  Court 
they  were  received  with  notable  considera 
tion.  He  suffered  as  few  reversals,  in  propor- 

•  Poittr  Journal. 


AS  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE       227 

tion  to  the  litigation,  as  any  judge  in  the 
state.  His  despatch  of  the  business  of  the 
courts  became  particularly  marked.  He 
caught  legal  propositions  quickly,  and  was 
prompt  and  decisive  in  his  rulings,  and  vigor 
ous  in  the  disposition  of  business.  He  held 
the  respect  of  the  entire  bar,  and  his  rulings 
were  gracefully  received.  In  all  his  decisions 
in  which  judicial  discretion  was  exercised,  his 
rulings  were  invariably  in  the  interest  of 
public  morals  and  the  uplifting  of  society." 

The  bar  of  the  district  during  the  respective 
terms  of  Judge  Olmsted's  judicial  service,  as 
well  as  in  the  preceding  period  of  his  practice, 
was  of  superior  rank.  McKean  County  was 
the  first  to  be  developed,  and  the  richest  in 
resources  of  the  counties  of  the  Northern  Oil 
District  of  Pennsylvania.  Titles  began  to  be 
contested,  and  transfers  and  contracts  to 
multiply  until  litigation  of  importance  arose, 
and  the  court-room  at  the  stated  terms  was 
fairly  crowded.  Lawyers  of  distinction  from 
other  counties  came  not  infrequently,  particu 
larly  on  the  opening  days  of  the  terms.  C.  B. 
Curtis  and  Ross  Thompson  came  from  Erie, 
Brawley  and  Douglas  from  Meadville,  Roger 
Sherman  from  Titusville,  Mason  from  Mercer, 
Hancock,  Lee  and  Osmer  from  Franklin, 


228  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

Rasselas  Brown,  C.  W.  Stone  and  W.  D. 
Brown  from  Warren,  George  A.  Jenks  from 
Brookville,  John  G.  Hall  from  Ridgway,  M.  F. 
Elliott  from  Wellsboro,  and  C.  S.  Gary  from 
Olean.  The  McKean  bar  was  itself  exception 
ally  strong,  including,  among  others,  Byron 
D.  Hamlin,  John  C.  Backus,  David  Sterrett, 
Henry  King,  E.  R.  Mayo,  Thomas  A.  Morri 
son,  E.  L.  Keenan,  J.  W.  Bouton,  Sheridan 
Gorton  and  John  Apple,  of  Smethport;  George 
A.  Berry,  N.  B.  Smiley,  A.  Leo  Weil,  W.  J. 
Milliken,  Eugene  Mullin,  W.  B.  Chapman 
and  J.  M.  McClure,  of  Bradford;  John  E. 
Mullin,  of  Kane;  S.  W.  Smith,  of  Port  Alle- 
gany;  W.  E.  Burdick,  of  Duke  Center, 
and  P.  R.  Cotter,  of  Eldred.  It  is  probable 
that  there  were  notable  days  within  Judge 
Olmsted's  recollection  when  there  were  more 
lawyers  of  distinction  in  the  court-room 
at  Smethport  than  were  ever  assembled 
at  one  time  in  the  court-room  of  any  other 
district  court  in  the  commonwealth. 

The  Potter  bar  during  the  same  period 
included,  among  others,  D.  C.  Larrabee, 
H.  C.  Dornan,  W.  I.  Lewis,  W.  F.  DuBois, 
W.  K.  Swetland,  John  Ormerod,  Fred  C. 
Leonard,  A.  S.  Heck  and  Newton  Peck. 


AS  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE       229 

To  have  so  presided  in  the  respective  courts 
of  a  district  of  such  considerable  importance, 
during  a  period  of  its  development  of  such 
historical  consequence,  as  to  win  at  the  end 
the  unqualified  commendation  of  the  members 
of  its  bar,  was  the  fittest  crowning  of  Judge 
Olmsted's  judicial  service. 

When  the  opportunity  came  to  the  bar  of 
Potter  County,  it  thus  placed  its  estimate  upon 
his  judicial  career: 

"His  judicial  experience  was  state-wide, 
as  was  his  reputation  as  an  upright  and  able 
jurist.  During  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen 
tury  of  continuous  judicial  service,  it  became 
his  duty  to  pass  upon  many  principles  there 
tofore  judicially  undetermined,  and  the  large 
number  of  leading  cases  in  which  his  judg 
ment  was  confirmed  by  the  appellate  courts 
evinces  the  clarity  of  mind  with  which  he 
applied  the  fundamental  principles  of  justice 
to  such  questions. 

"He  was  quick  to  appreciate  the  essen 
tials  involved  hi  any  litigation,  or  to  draft 
the  intent  and  weigh  the  merit  of  a  legal 
argument.  The  fact  that  during  his  entire 
judicial  career,  no  improper  motive  was 
attributed  to  any  judicial  act  of  his  even  by 
disappointed  litigants,  indicates  the  contem 
poraneous  recognition  given  his  strict  integ- 


230     ARTHUR   GEORGE  OLMSTED 

rity,  not  only  in  his  judicial  capacity,  but  also 
in  his  private  affairs." 

The  bar  of  McKean  gave  its  concurrent 
expression: 

"His  wide  learning,"  said  the  resolutions, 
"his  clear  mind,  his  unblemished  integrity, 
raised  him  to  eminence  among  the  judges  of 
the  commonwealth,  and  among  the  ablest  and 
most  honored  of  those  judges  he  ranked  as  a 
distinguished  peer." 

Not  less  affirmative  was  the  testimonial  of 
the  bar  of  the  City  of  Bradford: 

"He  was  invariably  patient,  conscientious, 
able  and  learned.  The  trials  which  he  con 
ducted  were  often  illuminated  by  flashes  of 
humor  of  which  he  had  a  fine  appreciation." 

In  a  recent  address  W.  J.  Milliken,  Esquire, 
has  spoken  of  Judge  Olmsted's  conservative 
caution: 

"This  did  not  spring,"  said  he,  "from  self- 
distrust,  nor  from  mere  timidity,  but  from  his 
trained  habit  of  careful  investigation,  which 
sought  to  know  whether  propositions  ad 
vanced,  or  conditions  asserted  to  exist,  had 
any  true  foundation,  either  in  fact  or  prin 
ciple.  Though  a  thing  seemed  plausible, 
whether  in  law  or  anything  else,  it  did  not 


AS  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE       231 

gain  his  acceptance  without  rigorous  demon 
stration.  In  all  things  his  sympathies  and 
feelings  were  made  subordinate  to  his  reason." 

He  presided  over  the  court  with  true 
dignity,  without  ostentation,  oblivious  to  the 
galleries.  The  prosaic  procedure  of  the  court 
room  was  often  enlivened  by  his  quaint  humor. 
Intense  situations  were  relieved  by  it.  To  a 
lawyer  who  urged  that  on  a  former  hearing  of 
the  case  he  had  forcibly  argued  his  present 
contention,  the  Judge  dryly  interjected: 

"I  remember  the  argument,  but  I  do  not 
remember  the  force." 

To  a  grand  juror  begging  to  be  excused  from 
attendance  because  of  his  deafness  in  one  ear, 
the  Judge  replied: 

"You  will  do.     You  are  only  to  hear  one 
side  of  the  case." 

The  bar  repeatedly  sought  to  do  him  honor 
at  banquet  or  reception,  but  he  always  eluded 
it.  Whenever  caught  for  an  after-dinner 
speech,  he  spoke  with  grace  and  fluency  and 
wit  becoming  the  occasion,  but  he  was  known 
to  light  his  cigar  and  walk  out  before  he  could 
be  called  upon. 


232     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

The  duties  of  the  bench  were  not  distateful 
to  him,  although  their  responsibility  he  keenly 
felt.  He  appeared  to  have  no  ambition  for  a 
seat  in  either  of  the  appellate  courts.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  he  would  have  enjoyed  a 
position  where  his  strong  individuality  would 
have  been  measurably  tempered  or  in  some 
degree  restrained.  He  seconded  no  move 
ment  in  that  direction,  although  once  or 
twice  it  was  put  on  foot  without  his  instigation. 
Particularly  when  a  vacancy  on  the  Supreme 
bench  was  caused  by  the  death  of  Justice 
Williams,  the  Bradford  Evening  Star1  men 
tioned  Judge  Olmsted  as  "eminently  quali 
fied,"  and  added  that  his  appointment  would 
be  "a  strong  acquisition  to  the  bench  of  the 
highest  court.  He  has  figured  prominently  in 
state  affairs,  and  his  reputation  as  an  able  and 
impartial  jurist  extends  from  one  end  of  the 
commonwealth  to  the  other."  The  Port 
Allegany  Reporter  and  Austin  Autograph 
commended  the  suggestion.  Other  papers 
in  the  same  quarter  of  the  state  expressed 
regret  that  his  illness  might  preclude  the 
merited  honor. 


i  Bradford  Evening  Star,  January  80,  1899. 


AS  LAWYER  AND  JUDGE       233 

In  fact,  his  health  was  not  equal  to  the 
strain  which  the  duties  of  such  a  position 
would  have  exacted.  As  his  judicial  service 
came  to  a  close,  he  fairly  coveted  the  relaxa 
tion  of  private  life.  He  was  then  seventy-five 
years  of  age.  He  might  say,  with  Emerson: 

"It  is  time  to  be  old, 
To  take  in  sail: — 
The  god  of  bounds, 
Who  sets  to  seas  a  shore 
Came  to  me  in  his  fatal  rounds, 
And  said:  No  more!" 


H 


CHAPTER  XIII 

ROUNDING  THE  YEARS 

E  was  entering  upon  the  period  of 
retrospection. 


"Coming  into  the  county  as  a  boy," 
observes  an  editorial  neighbor,1  "when  it  was 
new,  his  life  has  been  a  part  of  its  history  and 
occupies  a  conspicuous  place  in  it.  He  knew 
the  county  when  it  was  little  more  than  a 
wilderness,  its  citizens  suffering  all  the  incon 
veniences  and  trials  of  the  backwood's  settler 
life.  He  knew  their  privations  and  sympa 
thized  with  their  hardships.  He  has  lived  to 
see  all  the  early  settlers  pass  into  the  Great 
Beyond,  and  the  rugged  forests  change  into 
beautiful  fertile  farms.  He  has  witnessed  the 
passing  of  the  log  cabin  and  seen  it  replaced 
with  neat,  comfortable  homes.  He  is  the 
last  remaining  member  of  the  old  Potter  bar 
which  was  composed  of  as  vigorous  and  active 
class  of  men  as  were  to  be  found  in  the  pro 
fession  anywhere." 

In  the  language  of  another  journalist  writing 
at  the  time: 


*  Potter  Journal 

(234) 


ROUNDING  THE  YEARS        235 

"He  knows  every  hill  and  dale,  and  it  is 
given  to  him  to  know  the  people  as  few  people 
know  them.  He  knew  the  rugged  pioneers 
who  conquered  the  wilderness,  and  their  joys 
and  sorrows  were  an  open  book."1 

His  judicial  duties  had  not  taken  him  very 
far,  nor  often,  from  his  own  fireside,  and  had 
comported  better  with  his  physical  condition 
than  would  the  duties  of  political  leadership, 
involving,  perhaps,  congressional  service. 
When  the  time  was  opportune  for  such 
service,  he  had  felt  unequal  to  the  test  which 
it  would  have  put  upon  his  impaired  vitality. 
In  the  national  arena  he  would  have  added 
new  luster  to  the  statesmanship  of  the 
Northern  Tier.  It  has  already  much  to  its 
credit.  It  has  been  the  nursery  of  great 
cardinal  governmental  policies. 

First,  the  Free  School  System.  A  third  of  a 
century  before  the  State  of  New  York  estab 
lished  such  system,  the  Connecticut  settlers  of 
the  Wyoming  Valley2  under  the  leadership  of 
Timothy  Pickering,3  a  delegate  in  the  Consti- 


1  Bolivar  Breeze. 

« Three  shares  of  land  were  set  apart,  one  for  the  maintenance  of  public  school*, 
another  for  the  erection  of  a  meeting-house,  and  a  third  for  the  support  of  a  minister . 
— Matthews  on  Expansion  of  New  England. 

1  Wickersham's  History  of  Education  in  Penntykania,  259.  Timothy  Pickering, 
Postmaster  General,  Secretary  of  War,  Secretary  of  State,  took  a  Connecticut  title, 
aa  Ethan  Allen  did,  but  he  wisely  foresaw  the  ultimate  supremacy  of  Pennsylvania, 


236     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

tutional  Convention  of  1790,  who  had  brought 
from  Massachusetts  to  Wyoming  the  germ  of 
its  policy,  successfully  resisted  Thomas 
McKean,  who,  at  a  critical  juncture,  although 
a  powerful  friend  of  the  cause  of  education, 
mistakenly  sought  to  restrict  the  public  schools 
to  the  indigent;  and  thus  the  system  in 
Pennsylvania  was  early  planted  upon  a  broad 
and  enduring  foundation. 

Second,  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  This  prop 
osition,  of  which  David  Wilmot1  was  the 
recognized  sponsor  and  able  champion,  if  not 
the  author,  became  the  rock  upon  which  polit 
ical  parties  were  wrecked  and  the  country 
divided — a  division  which  resulted  in  civil 
war  and  eventually  in  the  abolition  of 
slavery. 


and  exerted  his  distinguished  ability  to  procure  effective  compromise  legislation. 
He  lived  at  Wilkes-Barre  for  several  years  prior  to  his  summons  to  Washington's 
cabinet.  The  dwelling  house  which  he  built  and  occupied  on  South  Main  Street 
is  still  standing  and  little  changed.  On  his  return  from  Washington  in  1800,  he 
retired  to  his  farm  in  Susquehanna  County,  which  he  named  Harmony  (Lanesboro), 
and  while  engaged  in  clearing  it  lived  in  a  primitive  I  og-house.  When  John  Adams 
came  to  the  Presidency  he  preferred  another  for  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State. 
Estrangement  grew  into  dislike  and  the  quarrel  resulted  in  the  retirement  of  Adams 
from  public  life.  On  the  contrary  Pickering's  friends  urged  his  return  to  Massa 
chusetts  from  which  state  he  was  ultimately  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate. 
Criticising  the  statement  of  Adams  (in  1809)  that  "Great  Britain  is  the  natural 
enemy  of  the  United  States,"  Pickering  with  great  courage  and  almost  prophetic 
wisdom  expressed  himself  as  follows: 

"A  new  reason  now  urges  the  United  States  to  maintain  a  friendly  connexion 
with  Great-Britain:  Hers  is  the  only  free  and  independent  country  in  Europe;  and 
Ours  the  only  other  country  in  the  World  in  a  condition  to  cooperate  with  Britain 
in  sustaining  the  cause  of  Liberty  on  the  Earth." 

i  Son  of  Randall  Wilmot,  of  Woodbridge,  Connecticut,  and  hereinbefore  men 
tioned. 


ROUNDING  THE  YEARS        237 

Third,  the  Homestead  Law.1  Controversy 
over  the  titles  of  the  Connecticut  claimants, 
incidental  adjudication,  and  ultimate  recogni 
tion  of  their  homestead  rights,  and  the  incor 
poration  of  the  principle  involved  into  the 
law  of  the  commonwealth,  generated  under 
the  championship  of  Galusha  A.  Grow2  a  like, 
though  broader,  homestead  policy  for  the 
general  government. 

There  are  national  exigencies,  too,  such  as 
the  existence  of  war,  when  congressional 
leaders  are  demanded,  of  rare  wisdom,  saga 
city,  patriotism,  and  in  such  time  of  need  the 
Northern  Tier  has  not  failed  to  respond. 
Glenni  W.  Scofield,3  second  only  to  Thaddeus 
Stevens,  led  the  Pennsylvania  delegation  dur 
ing  the  contest  between  the  North  and  the 

1  It  is  to  be  noted  that  eleven  years  before  the  Homestead  Law  was  enacted  by 
Congress,  the  Potter  County  pioneers  in  their  Free  Soil  Convention  of  1851,  herein 
before  mentioned,  declared  in  favor  of  "land  reform"  in  its  broadest  sense,  thai 
every  family  may  have  a  home  exempt  from  levy  and  sale  by  execution." 

* Born  in  Ashford,  Windham  County,  Connecticut.  "  A  man  who  has  con 
tributed,  as  Galusha  Grow  has,  to  the  lasting  welfare  of  millions,  is  entitled  to  the 
gratitude,  not  only  of  his  country,  but  of  the  world." — JOHN  HAT. 

When  the  late  Czar  of  Russia  was  asked  by  General  Nelson  A.  Miles  what  he 
intended  to  do  with  Siberia  upon  the  completion  of  the  East  and  West  Railroad, 
His  Majesty  replied: 

"  We  intend  to  do  with  it  what  your  great  statesman,  Mr.  Grow,  did 
with  the  public  domain  of  the  United  States.    In  due  time  we  shall  give  it 
to  the  people,  because  we  are  convinced  that  the  Homestead  Law  is  the 
most  valuable  enactment  ever  placed  on  the  statute  books  of  nations." 
•  Son  of  Darius  Schofield,  of  Stamford,  Connecticut^   Judge  Scofield  represented 
in  Congress  the  Warren- Venango  district  of  Pennsylvania  for  twelve  years,  covering 
the  period  of  the  Civil  War,  during  which  he  was  chairman  of  the  Committee  oa 
Naval  Affairs.  f  Referring  to  instances  of  promotion  from  the  House  to  the  Senate 
and  to  the  Cabinet  of  members  who  had  been  prominent  in  the  debate  upon  the 
XHIth  Constitutional  Amendment,  Seilhamer  says:     But  Glenni  W.  Scofield  and 
M.  Russell  Thayer,  being  Peonsylvanians,  went  unrewarded  of  the  higher  prefer- 


238  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

South,  and  Charles  W.  Stone1  held  no  lower 
place  of  influence  during  the  Spanish-American 
War.  But  there  was  an  era  in  the  history  of 
these  counties  when  they  had  a  cause  without 
a  leader,  and  their  cause  lingered  and  suffered 
in  consequence.  In  the  category  it  may  be 
designated  as  follows: 

Fourth,  Corporation  Restraint.  It  was  in 
the  oil  region  of  Pennsylvania,  particularly 
the  northwestern  counties  of  McKean,  Craw 
ford  and  Venango,  that  a  popular  revolt  first 
occurred  against  corporate  aggression.  It 
arose  in  the  first  instance  by  reason  of  freight 
discrimination  in  favor  of  the  Standard  Oil 
Company,  and  became  more  and  more  intense 
as  corporations  multiplied,  combined  and 
coalesced  into  obnoxious  trusts.  A  delegation 
was  sent  to  Washington,  and  the  attention 
of  Roscoe  Conkling,  the  distinguished  Senator 


ment  that  Pennsylvania  has  always  denied  to   her  ablest  men  in  the  House." — 
Hist.  Rep.  Party,  171. 

1  A  native  of  Groton,  Massachusetts,  first  Republican  Lieu  tenant-Governor 
of  Pennsylvania,  Senator  and  Representative,  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth. 
He  represented  in  Congress  the  district,  including  Warren,  from  1890  to  1899.  He 
was  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Coinage,  Weights  and  Measures  during  the 
free  silver  agitation.  He  was  ^  repeatedly  mentioned  for  the  office  of  Governor. 
Senator  Quay  opposed  his  nomination,  and  in  the  Republican  convention  of  1890 
sacrificed  the  election  to  prevent  it.  The  candidate  whom  he  named  suffered  an 
anticipated  defeat  at  the  polls.  In  the  convention  of  1894  Stone's  nomination  was 
prevented  by  a  change  of  seven  votes  after  the  arrival  of  Quay.  Former  Governor 
Pennypacker,  in  his  Autobiography  (p.  823),  relates  that  when  the  name  of  a  dis 
tinguished  jurist  was  suggested  for  promotion  to  the  Supreme  Bench  Quay  said, 
"No,  I  will  oppose  him.  He  is  one  of  those  Yankees  from  around  Wilkesbarre,  and 
you  cannot  trust  one  of  them."  It  was  not  Senator  Quay's  habit  to  be  looking  for 
leaders,  but  always  for  followers.  He  and  they  constituted  The  Organization. 


SCOFIELD 

WILMOT  PICKERING  GROW 

STONE 


ROUNDING  THE  YEARS        239 

from  New  York,  was  engaged.  Some  forma 
tive  progress  was  made.  It  was  at  this 
juncture  that  the  movement  called  for  its 
own  representative  in  Congress,  one  having 
the  ability,  the  legal  knowledge,  the  legisla 
tive  experience  and  parliamentary  skill  of 
Arthur  G.  Olmsted.  He  seemed  born  for  the 
mission,  trained  for  the  crisis,  the  man  for 
the  hour.  Under  such  leadership,  springing 
from  the  body  of  the  people  under  oppression, 
and  yet  possessing  in  large  measure  the  con 
fidence  of  corporate  interests,  appropriate 
constructive  measures  might  have  been  de 
vised,  which,  while  effective  for  the  primary 
purpose,  would  yet  have  been  less  destructive 
and  grinding  in  their  operation.  But  the 
leader  which  the  times  indicated,  and  whom 
the  course  of  events  had  thus  selected,  was 
unable  to  respond.  The  cause  of  the  people 
was  passed  on  to  Senator  John  Sherman,  of 
Ohio,  of  like  Hartford  and  Essex  ancestry, 
who,  by  a  single  act,  laid  the  foundation  for 
a  new  governmental  policy  toward  corpora 
tions.  But  it  was  like  a  seed  that  is  planted 
and  left  for  years  to  germinate. 

Judge  Olmsted's  private  affairs  now  de 
manded   undivided   attention.      His   invest- 


240  ABTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

ments  had  become  large  and  varied.  They 
included  material  interests  in  the  South,  as 
well  as  in  corporate  and  kindred  enterprises 
in  his  own  county.  Besides,  he  had  made 
many  loans  to  farmers  and  mechanics,  in  and 
near  Coudersport,  to  whom  he  gave  at  need 
numerous  renewals  and  extensions.1  He  had 
meditated,  too,  upon  certain  projects  of 
advantage  to  the  community  at  Coudersport. 
In  1890  he  had  presented  the  Coudersport 
fire  department  with  a  hose-cart.  In  1895 
two  hose  companies  were  organized  and 
chartered,  one  in  the  first  ward  to  be  known 
as  A.  G.  Olmsted  Hose  Company.  In  1905 
he  began  the  erection  of  the  present  fire 
station  which,  costing  when  completed  $4,000, 
together  with  the  equipment  costing  $551.00, 
he,  on  the  17th  day  of  August,  1905,  presented 
to  the  fire  department.  Another  institu 
tion,  in  the  organization  of  which  Judge 
Olmsted  was  instrumental,  is  the  Citizens' 
Trust  Company,  a  company  which,  from  its 
nature,  its  powers  under  the  law,  is  calculated 
to  be  of  much  service  to  the  community,  and 
to  be  an  important  instrumentality  in  the 

»  Observing  that  his  will  directed  that  no  inventory  should  be  filed,  Judge  Ham- 
lin  said  he  doubted  not  that  it  was  because  Judge  Olmsted  did  not  wish  it  to  be 
known  how  many  liens  he  had  lost  by  indulgence. 


ROUNDING  THE  YEARS        241 

material  advancement  of  the  county,  A 
condensed  milk  factory  was  organized  in 
1900,  of  which  Judge  Olmsted  was  chosen 
president;  J.  Newton  Peck,  vice-president; 
M.  S.  Thompson,  treasurer,  and  A.  B.  Mann, 
secretary.  Judge  Olmsted  had  builded  for 
the  borough  and  the  county  better  than  he 
knew.  He  never  spoke  of  anything  he  had 
done  as  in  the  nature  of  a  benefaction  to  the 
community,  nor,  in  fact,  looked  back  to  see 
what  he  had  accomplished.  He  would  not 
willingly  have  listened  to  the  enumeration: 
the  railroad  that  opened  up  the  wilderness, 
the  telegraph,  the  library,  the  soldiers'  monu 
ment,  the  water  supply,  the  gas  supply,  the 
fire  protection,  the  trust  company.  Besides 
his  very  life  had  been  a  public  service,  in  the 
cause  of  freedom,  of  temperance,  for  the 
Union,  in  the  House,  in  the  Senate,  on  the 
bench.  The  county  had  been  his  companion. 
They  were  young  together.  He  had  kept  step 
with  it.  It  had  grown  old  along  with  him. 
Its  hundredth  anniversary  approached.  He 
may  have  urged  its  recognition,  and  willingly 
taken  some  minor  part  in  promoting  its  cele 
bration.  But  it  was  not  for  him  to  speak  the 
praises  of  the  century.  To  the  gathered 


ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

multitude  on  the  tenth  day  of  August,  1904, 
President  Colcord  fitly  said: 

"The  voice  of  a  hundred  years  has  called 
to  the  people  of  Potter  County,  bidding  them 
pause  for  a  brief  while  and  take  note  of  the 
flight  of  centuries;" 

and  then  he  introduced  Hon.  Marlin  E. 
Olmsted,  LL.D.,1  of  Harrisburg,  as  the  anni 
versary  orator,  saying: 

"I  shall  introduce  him  as  a  Potter  County 
boy,  who  from  this  humble  village  went  out 
into  the  world  in  early  life  to  seek  his  fortune, 
and  as  we  listen  to  his  voice  this  afternoon,  we 
will  not  forget  that  that  voice  in  the  halls  of 
Congress,  and  in  the  councils  of  the  nation, 
commands  respectful  attention  from  the  fore 
most  statesmen  of  America." 

The  oration  which  followed  was  replete 
with  historical  incident.  It  narrated  the 
purchase  of  1784  from  the  Six  Nations  of  all 
this  region  for  $5,000  and  the  later  purchase  of 
the  same  lands  from  the  Wyandot  and 


» A  biographical  sketch  of  the  speaker  in  Genealogy  of  the  Olmsted  Family  in 
America  says,  inter  alia:  "In  1869  he  was,  through  the  influence  of  Senator  Olm 
sted,  tendered  a  position  in  the  State  Treasury,  but  the  then  State  Treasurer,  Robert 
W.  Mackey,  learning  of  his  youth  and  inexperience,  traded  him  off,  as  it  were,  to 
Auditor  General  Hartranft,  in  whose  office  he  rose  to  the  responsible  position  of 
Corporation  Clerk,  re-drafted  the  general  revenue  laws,  afterwards  entered  upon  the 
study  of  law;  was  admitted  to  practice,  rapidly  rose  in  his  profession,  was  elected  to 
Congress  and  re-elected,  attaining  high  distinction  as  a  legislator  and  parliamen 
tarian. 


ROUNDING  THE  YEARS         243 

Delaware  tribes  for  $2,000,  and  how  the  deed 
was  signed  by  the  sachems,  Half  King,  Sweat 
House,  the  Pipe,  the  Present,  the  Council 
Door,  the  Big  Cat,  The  Twisting  Vine,  The 
Volunteer,  The  Desire  of  All,  with  their  own 
peculiar  devices,  such  as  a  bow  and  arrow,  a 
spear,  intertwining  vines.  He  mentioned  the 
fact  that  when  the  act  of  January  13,  1804, 
was  passed  creating  the  present  counties  of 
Potter,  McKean,  Jefferson,  Clearfield,  Tioga 
and  Cambria,  the  legislature  was  in  session 
at  Lancaster.  As  the  act  passed  the  House, 
the  county  of  Potter  bore  the  beautiful  Indian 
name  Sinnemahoning,  and  it  was  proposed  to 
substitute  Potter  for  the  name  of  McKean,  but 
in  perfecting  the  measure  Sinnemahoning  was 
sent  back  to  its  own  wild  waters,  gathered 
from  its  sources  in  both  counties,  singing  its 
way  to  the  Susquehanna. 

"When,"  said  the  orator,  "The  legislature 
of  1804  promised  the  future  settlers  that  a 
part  of  the  sovereign  power  of  the  state  should 
be  theirs  to  exercise,  it  had  faith  that  the 
hardy  pioneers  who  should  first  cultivate  these 
beautiful  and  fertile  valleys,  breathe  this  pure 
air,  imbibe  these  crystal  waters  and  drink  in 
the  spirit  of  freedom  among  these  hills,  would 


244     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 


be  men  in  whom  that  trust  might  be  safely 
reposed.  Most  gloriously  has  that  confidence 
been  justified.  No  country  was  ever  won  from 
the  wilds  by  men  more  deserving  or  more 
patriotic  than  those  who,  from  that  remarkable 


SOURCES  OF  POPULATION 

Potter  and  McKean  were  settled  by  three  streams  of  immigra 
tion  (a)  from  the  old  Wyoming  district,  (b)  from  New  York  and  New 
England,  following  Wayne's  victory  and  Indian  treaty  of  1795, 
(c)  Scotch-Irish  and  Quakers  from  Philadelphia  and  the  West  Branch, 
including  Fair-Play  Men.1  The  countries  west  of  the  Allegheny, 
Warren,  Crawford,  Erie,  Mercer  and  Venango  received  their  early 
settlers  from  the  same  sources  in  the  same  decade.* 


1  For  many  years  some  doubt  existed  whether  the  Indian  name  Tiadaghton  was 
intended  to  identify  Lycoming  Creek  or  Pine  Creek  as  a  boundary  under  the  purchase 
of  1768,  and  white  settlements  were  consequently  made  on  the  rich  lands  between. 
These  settlements  were  repudiated  by  the  government  at  Philadelphia.  There 
upon  the  settlers  organized  their  own  government  under  the  name  of  Fair  Play  Men, 
electing  a  committee  of  three  to  arbitrate  all  differences.  They  held  their  ground 
until  a  decision  was  obtained  in  their  favor.  It  is  an  interesting  historical  incident 
that,  having  learned  from  the  East  of  a  growing  inclination  towards  a  declaration  of 
independence,  the  Fair-Play  Men  determined  upon  the  same  course,  and  having 
assembled  on  the  plains  above  Pine  Creek,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  without  means 
of  knowledge  of  the  actual  events  of  the  day  in  Philadelphia,  adopted  a  resolution 
renouncing  allegiance  to  Great  Britain  and  declaring  themselves  free  and  independent. 

*  The  superior  Nordic  type,  represented  by  these  several  strains,  which  thus 
peopled  the  Northern  Tier,  although  since  somewhat^  depleted  by  war,  has  prob 
ably  suffered  less  deterioration  here  than  in  other  sections  of  the  Commonwealth. 
Moreover,  in  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  it  was  reinforced  by  a  con 
siderable  influx  from  Scandinavian  countries,  which  are  now,  says  the  ethnologist. 
Madison  Grant,  "  as  they  have  been  for  thousands  of  years,  the  chief  nursery  and 
broodland  of  the  master  race." 


ROUNDING  THE  YEARS        245 

beginning,  have  made  Potter  County  what  it  is 
today.  Though  not  blessed  with  an  over 
abundance  of  this  world's  goods,  they  were,  in 
the  main,  educated,  sturdy,  intelligent,  fear 
less,  liberty-loving,  law-abiding,  God-fearing 
men.  They  had  religious  services  before  they 
had  church  edifices,  and  even  before  they  had 
preachers;  and  realizing  the  value  of  educa 
tion,  they  had  classes  and  schools  before  they 
could  afford  schoolhouses." 

The  speaker  mentioned  instances  of  legisla 
tion  peculiar  to  the  times.  Upon  the  day  that 
the  Governor  approved  the  act  locating 
Coudersport,  he  also  signed  one  making 
squirrel  and  crow  scalps  receivable  for  taxes. 
Later  the  commissioners  of  Potter  County 
were  authorized  to  pay  fifty  cents  for  fox  and 
seventy-five  cents  for  wolf  scalps,  and  still 
later  twenty-five  dollars  for  a  full  grown  wolf 
and  half  price  for  puppies;  sixteen  dollars  for 
a  panther  and  nine  dollars  for  puppies. 
Touching  salient  points  in  the  county's  his 
tory,  the  orator  finally  reached  the  great 
county  railroad  enterprise,  the  Coudersport 
and  Port  Allegany,  which  he  pronounced  "a 
monument  to  the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of 
its  promoters  and  of  untold  value  and  impor 
tance  to  the  county." 


246     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

"Its  first  effect,"  said  he,  "was  to  encourage 
the  manufacture  of  lumber  at  home.  This 
was  greatly  increaseb  when  Frank  H.  Good 
year,  having  from  'The  Lookout'  conceived 
the  idea  of  hauling  that  great  forest  in  manu 
factured  form,  up  hill,  to  Keating  Summit  and 
thence  to  Buffalo,  built  the  Sinnemahoning 
Valley  Railroad  from '  Squire  Austin's  house  to 
Keating  Summit.  It  was  six  miles  long,  and, 
as  he  delights  to  say,  'all  under  one  manage 
ment.'  It  is  related  that  a  lady  passenger 
on  one  of  the  first  trains  said  she  could  get  off 
and  walk  faster.  Asked  by  the  conductor  why 
she  did  not,  she  replied  that  she  would,  except 
that  her  folks  would  not  be  expecting  her  so 
soon.  The  business  in  connection  with  that 
little  railroad  became  so  extensive  that  the 
owner  induced  his  brother,  C.  W.  Goodyear, 
then  a  prominent  young  Buffalo  lawyer,  to 
join  him  in  the  enterprise.  Together  they 
have  extended  it  into  a  great  system,  with 
eight  or  ten  millions  of  stocks  and  bonds,  and 
nearly  two  hundred  miles  of  railroad,  which 
will  soon  afford  another  outlet  to  Buffalo. 
And  they  have  caused  great  mills  to  be  erected 
along  its  line  so  that  the  logs  which  would 
otherwise  have  been  floated  to  the  Williams- 
port  boom,  have  been  manufactured  at  home. 
The  wealth  and  business  interests  of  the  county 
have  been  thereby  vastly  increased,  and 
'Squire  Austin's  farm,'  which,  twenty  years 


ROUNDING  THE  YEARS        247 

ago,  stood  in  the  wilderness,  is  now  covered  with 
dwellings,  stores  and  churches.  If  the  promo 
ters  have  made  great  fortunes  for  themselves, 
they  have  also  done  much  for  the  county.'* 

The  oration  concluded  as  follows: 

"As  the  headwaters  of  the  Genesee,  the  Sus- 
quehanna  and  the  Allegheny,  springing  from 
that  wonderful  watershed  in  Allegheny  and 
Ulysses  townships,  and  flowing,  respectively, 
northward  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  southward  to 
the  Chesapeake,  and  yet  further  south  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  refresh  many  counties  and 
many  states,  and,  uniting  with  other  streams, 
form  mighty  rivers  bearing  many  burdens  and 
turning  many  wheels,  until,  at  length,  they 
pour  into  the  ocean  and  help  to  bear  the 
mightiest  vessels,  so  the  love  of  liberty  and  of 
country  and  the  unalterable  sentiments  of 
loyalty  and  devotion  ever  present,  and  ever 
forming,  among  the  old  green  hills  of  Potter, 
will  continually  flow  forth  and,  joining  with 
and  encouraging  similar  streams  from  every 
part  of  this  fair  land,  help  to  swell  the  great 
and  everlasting  ocean  of  national  patriotism 
upon  which  our  Ship  of  State  may  ever  safely 
ride,  while  'Old  Glory,'  now  proudly  and 
peacefully  waving  over  forty-five  states  and  a 
myriad  of  islands  on  the  sea,  emblem  of  free 
dom  and  of  protection  to  eighty  millions  of 
people,  shall  grow  even  brighter  in  the 
blessed  radiance  of  its  own  increasing  stars." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

FOUR-SCORE  AND   SEVEN 

THIS  celebration,  at  which  were  gath 
ered  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
pioneers,  the  companions  of  Judge 
Olmsted's  youth,  home-coming  from  far  and 
wide,  his  surviving  comrades  in  the  civic 
battles  he  had  won,  his  associates  in  the 
enterprises  he  had  founded,  at  which  were 
recounted  the  events  of  which  he  had  been 
a  part,  was  a  fitting  culmination  of  his 
public  life.  And  yet  there  were  years  of 
usefulness  before  him,  restful  years  when  he 
brought  minor  purposes  to  fruition,  years  in 
which  he  sat  in  the  twilight  as  the  sage  of 
Coudersport,  the  general  counselor,  helpful  to 
many,  concerned  for  the  future  comfort  of 
his  invalid  wife  and  family,  his  children  and 
grandchildren.  He  was  fond  of  his  carriage 
horses,  and  reluctantly  yielded  to  the  substi 
tution  of  the  automobile.  He  drove  daily  in 
good  weather,  and,  as  if  by  instinct,  back  to 
Ulysses,  not  alone  because  it  was  still  the 

(248) 


FOUR-SCORE  AND  SEVEN       249 

home  of  his  kindred,  but  also  for  a  sight  of 
the  parental  homestead  of  his  boyhood,  to 
which  he  fondly  directed  the  attention  of  his 
fellow-passengers.  For  dull  days  he  had  the 
excellent  companionship  of  his  private  library 
to  which  he  had  made  important  additions  in 
recent  years.  In  his  files  he  could  turn  to 
interesting  letters,  especially  letters  written 
during  the  period  of  his  legislative  service. 
Among  his  correspondents  were  Governor 


Geary,  General  Hartranft,  Chief  Justice 
Woodward,  General  Kane,  Treasurer  Mackey, 
the  Republica  leader  in  Pennsylvania  during 
the  Civil  War,  and  Senator  Rutan,  his  first 
lieutenant,  Senators  Strang  and  Stinson,  Col. 
Walton  Dwight,  Captain  J.  C.  Johnson,  Peter 
Herdic,  United  States  Senator  J.  Donald 
Cameron,  Dr.  S.  D.  Freeman,  Representatives 
H.  Jones  Brooke  and  Lucius  Rogers,  Editor 
Bowman,  Thomas  A.  Scott,  vice-president  of 


250     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  and 
Assistant  Secretary  of  War.  Lon  M.  Konkle, 
of  Philadelphia,  wrote,  in  1871,  offering  eight 
lots  in  Coudersport  for  one  hundred  dollars, 
and  Samuel  Lewis,  of  Pottsville,  wrote  in  the 
same  year  offering  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  of  "valuable  timber  land"  in  Potter  at 
ten  dollars  an  acre. 

Recalling  this  quiet  period  of  Judge  Olm- 
sted's  life,  the  late  Thomas  H.  Murray,  of 
Clearfield,  a  leader  of  the  bar  in  Western 
Pennsylvania,  and  prominently  mentioned 
both  for  judicial  and  gubernatorial  honors, 
about  a  year  before  his  death  wrote  the 
following  appreciative  letter: 

RECOLLECTIONS  OF  ARTHUR  G.  OLMSTED. 

Judge  Olmsted  was  of  a  type  of  men  who  are 
now  fast  disappearing.  Other  examples  of 
his  class  were  William  L.  Corbet  of  Clarion, 
John  H.  Orvis  of  Centre  and  Simon  P.  Wolver- 
ton  of  Northumberland.  They  will  not  be 
reproduced.  The  conditions  which  made 
them,  or  rather  which  enabled  them  to  make 
themselves  are  here  no  longer.  The  older 
lawyers  of  today  who  came  to  know  them  well 
are  better  lawyers  and  better  men  because  of 
their  life  and  example.  Their  distinction  was 
not  merely  their  intellectual  stature,  but  the 


FOUR-SCORE  AND  SEVEN      251 

individuality  that  forged  their  way  through 
barren  soil  and  unfriendly  environment  to 
high  rank  in  their  great  profession. 

Theirs  was  the  day  and  place  of  the  weekly 
mail — of  the  log  school  house  with  its  slab 
benches  and  tin  plate  stove.  The  preacher 
came,  if  at  all,  once  in  three  or  four  weeks. 
Whatever  church  he  came  from  he  was  a  circuit 
rider, — or  walker;  anyway  he  had  a  circuit. 
This  class  of  lawyers  had  a  personality  which 
protected  them  from  the  dwarfing  and  enervat 
ing  influences  which  ensnare  so  many  weaker 
men  under  modern  conditions  of  life.  Theirs 
was  not  a  race  for  the  least  work  and  the  most 
leisure,  but  for  the  highest  achievement. 
Therefore  were  they  able  to  come  up  well 
equipped  from  the  time  of  the  weekly  mail, — 
to  a  time  when  they  could,  at  the  breakfast 
table,  read  a  verbatim  report  of  the  speeches 
made  the  night  before, — at  the  banquet  of 
the  Lord  Mayor  of  London. 

I  first  saw  Judge  Olmsted  about  thirty 
years  ago  at  Harrisburg.  He  was  presiding  at 
a  Republican  State  Convention.  I  observed 
him  closely,  for  I  had  heard  much  of  him,  and 
was  then  impressed  with  his  self-poise  and 
his  entire  freedom  from  mannerisms.  He 
next  appeared  in  May,  1891,  at  this  place  to 
try  a  land  case,  involving  only  title,  but  with 
many  complications.  I  tried  the  case  for 
the  plaintiff  and  Judge  Orvis  appeared  for 


ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

the  defendants.  We  were  both  pleased  with 
his  spirit  of  fairness  and  his  apparent  familiar 
ity  with  the  questions  raised. 

For  about  six  years  before  retiring  from 
active  practice  I  had  a  number  of  cases  in 
Potter  County,  and  was  at  Coudersport 
once  or  twice  a  year,  either  to  court  or  to 
prepare  for  these  cases.  Two  cases  were 
for  a  local  railroad  in  which  Judge  Olmsted 
was  a  stockholder.  During  these  times  I 
came  closer  to  him  and  saw  more  of  him. 
In  the  summer  of  1905  when  I  went  to  court 
there  Mrs.  Murray  accompanied  me.  One 
evening  we  took  supper  with  him  and  Mrs. 
Olmsted.  In  a  trip  that  included  Smethport, 
Buffalo,  Detroit  and  Mt.  Clemens,  we  met 
nobody  who  left  with  us  such  pleasant  and 
lasting  recollections  as  these  substantial 
people  who  had  brought  down  into  a  life  of 
plenty  that  'genuine  hospitality  which  is 
usually  found  at  its  best — and  unmarred  by 
present-day  conventionalities — in  a  sparsely- 
settled  and  primitive  community.  After 
supper  the  Judge  talked  of  the  books  he  was 
then  reading.  He  prefaced  what  he  said  of 
them  by  the  statement  that  he  had  not 
opened  a  law  book  for  some  years.  He  was 
reading  a  book  on  St.  Paul  I  had  never  seen. 
I  was  much  interested  in  the  book  and  as 
much  in  what  he  said  about  its  contents. 
He  had  another  book  on  the  distribution  of 


FOUR-SCORE  AND  SEVEN      253 

the  races  of  men  over  the  earth,  and  spoke 
particularly  of  the  dominant  power  of  the 
Aryan  people  and  their  language,  and  of  how 
much  of  our  present-day  civilization  related 
back  to  them.  Of  the  great  judges  of  Penn 
sylvania,  like  most  of  the  big  lawyers  of  the 
olden  time,  he  put  Tilghman,  and  not  Gibson, 
first.  He  said  "his  opinions  were  so  exhaus 
tive  that  when  you  read  one  of  them,  there 
seems  to  be  nothing  left  to  be  said  on  the 
subject." 

The  next  day  he  drove  us  about  the  hills  and 
valleys  where  the  years  of  his  life  had  been 
spent,  and  in  which  much  of  the  thrift  and 
economy  of  those  years  had  been  invested. 
Judge  Olmsted's  characteristics  were:  his 
substantial  and  reliable  character  that  ren 
dered  him  a  man  of  force  in  the  community 
and  part  of  the  state  of  which  he  was  such  a 
distinguished  representative.  There  were 
some  things  he  stood  for,  and  these  were  the 
better  things  of  life,  and  there  was  no  diffi 
culty  in  finding  what  they  were.  His  clear 
vision  enabled  him  to  so  master  the  mysteries 
of  the  law  as  to  reach  a  top  place  in  his  pro 
fession.  This  quality  also  enabled  him, 
when  yet  young,  to  so  direct  his  thrift  and 
energies  as  to  early  acquire  a  competence  that 
protected  his  declining  years  from  care  and 
anxiety.  He  lived  to  a  ripe  age,  honored  alike 
by  his  people  and  by  the  profession  which  he 


254  ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

adorned  both  by  his  learning  and  by  the 
integrity  of  his  life  purpose. 


Clearfield,  Penna., 
November  18,  1914. 

With  increasing  age  Judge  Olmsted  and  his 
wife  felt  more  keenly  the  severity  of  the 
northern   winter.      They    journeyed   one   or 
two  seasons  to  resorts  in   the  South,  and, 
finally,   he   having   acquired   interests   with 
Hon.  Henry  Hamlin,  of  Smethport,  in  South 
ern  timber  lands,  was  able  to  content  himself 
repeatedly  for  a  few  weeks  in  Florida,  upon 
a  satisfying  theory  of  combined  business  and 
recreation.     Judge  Hamlin  was  occasionally 
his  companion  at  the  most  famous  of  the 
hotels  of  Palm  Beach.      Speaking  reminis- 
cently  some  time  later,  Judge  Hamlin  was 
heard  to  say  that  he  had  sat  beside  Judge 
Olmsted  while  he  was  in  conversation  with 
men  of  culture  and  education  from  the  East 
and  elsewhere,  and  that  he  never  suffered  in 
comparison;   that  his  fund  of  information  on 
all  topics  seemed  inexhaustible.      At  length 
Judge  Olmsted  gave  up  these  winter  trips,  and 
shortened  his  daily  rounds.      Long  after  he 


FOUR-SCORE  AND  SEVEN       255 

was  able  to  give  consecutive  attention  to 
matters  of  business,  he  yet  went  regularly  to 
his  office,  to  the  bank  and  to  the  nearest 
store,  where  he  learned  all  that  for  the  day  it 
sufficed  him  to  know.  His  son  Robert  was 
his  business  confidant. 

More  and  more  the  circle  of  his  interest 
narrowed  to  his  own  home  and  to  the  house 
holds  of  his  son  and  daughter.  The  world 
seemed  to  have  fallen  away  from  him  in  the 
course  of  time,  and  left  him  solitary.  His 
professional  associates  of  other  years,  Knox, 
Mann,  Benson,  Ross,  Larrabee,  all  had  gone 
before  him.  He  had  formed  many  new  asso 
ciations,  it  is  true,  but  such  friends  were  far 
and  wide.  Political  issues  and  party  adminis 
tration  were  no  longer  such  as  engaged  the 
statesmanship  of  the  earlier  days.  With  the 
religious  creed  of  his  fathers  he  was  perfectly 
familiar,  but  he  seemed  to  have  quietly 
recognized  and  accepted  the  modifications 
which  time  and  modern  scholarship  had 
contributed.  Reverent  of  spirit,  he  rarely 
spoke  of  religion,  never  to  disparage,  nor  even 
to  discuss  it.  He  recognized  it  as  a  social 
factor,  but  for  himself,  it  had  only  negative 
value.  His  mind  seemed  already  filled  with 


256     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

other  sources  of  reflection.  In  his  reading 
he  preferred  history  and  biography.  Perhaps 
he  regarded  religion  as  only  a  means  to  an 
end,  and  that  the  end  was  an  upright  life. 
The  sunset  of  his  days  had  for  him  only  clouds 
of  silver  lining,  and  he  enjoyed  his  comforts, 
his  little  circle,  his  car,  his  books,  his  cigar. 
He  had  rare,  reminiscent  moods.  Unfortunate 
it  is  that  the  incidents  he  recalled,  his  estimates 
of  the  elder  statesmen  and  of  events  once 
crucial,  were  never  recorded.  By  and  by, 
his  former  associates,  his  old  companions,  the 
lawyers  who  had  once  been  with  him  at  the 
bar,  were  again  alive.  He  forgot  the  cir 
cumstance  of  death,  and  inquired  of  their 
doings  from  his  visitor.  His  memory  lost  its 
tenacity  of  dates  and  then  of  names.  His  own 
he  would  sometimes  forget.  Pathetic  it  was 
beyond  expression  when  one  day,  so  at  a  loss, 
he  put  on  his  hat  and  walked  down  to  the 
store  that  he  might  ask  Mr.  Thompson  to  be 
good  enough  to  tell  him  who  he  was.  One  of 
Emerson's  biographers,  writing  of  him,  says: 

"The  failure  of  his  mental  machinery  to 
respond  to  his  will  left  his  personal  charm 
singularly  undimmed.  An  artist,  who  came 
to  his  house  to  paint  his  portrait  after  his 


FOUR-SCORE  AND  SEVEN       257 

memory  was  nearly  gone,  said  of  him:  'I  see 
Mr.  Emerson  every  day,  and  every  day  he 
asks  me  afresh  my  name — and  I  never  saw 
a  greater  man.'  This  dominating  virtue  of 
personality  was  long  held  to  account  for  his 
pre-eminence  among  his  contemporaries,  but 
time  has  proved  it,  so  far  as  it  existed  apart 
from  his  thought  and  vision,  merely  the  lovely 
light  in  which  the  enduring  features  of  his 
genius  were  at  once  made  beautiful  and  to  a 
degree  obscured." 

Thus  relinquishing  his  faculties  by  degrees 
he  became  finally  quite  detached  from  the 
community.  Though  slightly  bowed,  his 
presence  was  still  distinguished.  As  this 
venerable  man  walked  with  measured  step 
along  the  street  or  passed  by  in  his  car,  his 
townsmen  came  to  regard  him  very  much  as  a 
personage  from  abroad,  an  ambassador,  as  it 
were,  from  an  historic  land,  of  which  they  had 
dim  knowledge,  soon  to  depart  for  a  country- 
unknown  but  not  far  distant.  The  announce 
ment  of  his  departure  came  without  surprise. 
The  contact  between  life  and  death  had  been 
gentle.  The  physical  infirmity  which  in 
other  days  had  held  him  back  from  the  great 
tasks  his  country  would  have  put  upon  him, 
held  him  no  longer.  His  death  occurred  on  the 


258     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

eighteenth  day  of  September,  1914,  twelve 
days  before  his  eighty-seventh  birthday.  As  the 
news  spread  abroad  from  farm  to  farm  through 
the  countryside,  and  from  county  to  county  of 
the  Northern  Tier,  it  awoke  the  memories  of 
other  days.  The  great  account  of  the  life 
that  had  lingered  in  the  shadow  so  long  was 
retold  at  many  a  fireside — the  story  of  the 
boy  orator  of  Ulysses,  the  student  lecturer  for 
the  library,  his  later  scathing  arraignment  of 
the  liquor  license,  his  denunciation  of  chattel 
slavery,  his  leadership  in  the  Free  Soil  move 
ment,  his  thrilling  appeals  to  the  people  which 
rallied  the  soldiers  of  Potter  County  for  the 
defense  of  the  Union;  the  pride  which  the 
people  had  in  him  as  their  representative,  his 
statesmanship  in  the  House  and  in  the  Senate; 
how  his  failing  health  had  recalled  him  from 
a  distinguished  career;  and  he  had  come 
home,  by  his  ability  and  genius  to  dispel  the 
darkness  of  the  wilderness  with  the  search 
light  of  the  locomotive,  and  make  his  later 
years  an  epitome  of  the  industrial  history  and 
material  development  of  the  county.  Was 
it  any  wonder  that  when,  on  the  following 
Monday,  the  funeral  services  were  held,  his 
doorway  should  have  been  crowded  within 


FOUR-SCORE  AND  SEVEN       259 

and  without,  and  that  representative  citizens 
should  have  come  from  Williamsport,  Buffalo, 
Olean,  Bradford,  Wellsboro,  Srnethport, 
Eldred,  Austin,  Emporium,  as  well  as  from 
the  smaller  towns  of  the  county  to  join  in 
tribute  to  his  memory?  The  body,  almost 
matchless  in  its  proportions,  which  through  its 
eighty-seven  years  had  borne  his  undaunted 
spirit  in  its  high  endeavor,  found  its  last 
resting  place  at  the  spot  in  the  cemetery 
which  he  had  carefully  indicated,  almost 
beside  the  glistening  waters  of  the  beloved 
Allegheny  whose  banks  he  had  in  youth  so 
often  trod. 

County  bar  associations  adopted  memorials 
and  public  journals  extolled  his  services. 
These  are  seemly,  but  passing  tributes.  If 
in  the  years  to  come  another  generation  shall 
turn  these  pages  and  gather  from  their  imper 
fect  record  some  inspiration  towards  an 
upright  and  effective  life,  a  citizenship  of  a 
high  order,  a  superb  patriotism,  an  undeviat- 
ing  devotion  to  human  rights,  a  high  concep 
tion  and  conscientious  discharge  of  public  duty, 
then  to  the  children  of  Arthur  George  Olmsted, 
and  his  children's  children,  it  will,  as  the 
years  go  by,  be  the  most  gratifying  memorial. 


260     ARTHUR  GEORGE  OLMSTED 

It  is,  after  all,  as  if  he  were  in  truth  born 
in  old  Essex,  seeing  the  masts  above  the 
Braintree  docks,  daring  the  sea  for  freedom 
of  the  conscience,  nurtured  at  Hartford  in  the 
new  school  of  liberty,  the  American  university 
of  human  rights;  born  again  at  Ridgefield,  the 
Connecticut  Lexington,  to  stake  his  life  against 
the  old  world  tyrant;  reappearing  at  Ballston 
in  the  uniform  of  the  Revolution,  and  once 
more,  in  the  wilderness  at  Masonville,  to 
learn  the  added  lessons  of  border  life,  finally 
bringing  to  Ulysses  the  undiminished  inheri 
tance  of  this  rare  lineage,  here  to  respond  again 
to  the  call  of  human  freedom,  and  to  be  highly 
exemplified,  not  only  in  the  story  that  has 
been  written,  but  in  many  unnoted  deeds,  and 
to  pass  on  into  the  lives  and  memories  of  the 
generations  to  come. 


INDEX. 

PAQB 

Academy,  Coudersport,  its  equipment  and  official  list 60,  62 

Addresses:  Before  the  Baptist  Conference 76 

The  Sons  of  Temperance 79 

The  County  Bar  Association 82 

Allegheny  Plateau,  The  Divide,  or  "  Endless  Mountains" 98 

Allegheny  Indian  Reservation 47 

Allegheny,  State  of,  blocked  by  railroad  extension 98 

Allen,  Gen.  Ethan,  participant  with  Connecticut  Title  Claim 
ants 46,  48 

Allen,  Harrison,  Auditor  General 164,  175 

Allen  Joseph  C.t  a  Potter  delegate  to  National  Free  Soil  Con 
vention  88 

American  Mediterranean,  contemplated  by  Southern  statesmen,  97 
Armstrong.  Charles  H.,  corporator  of  Jersey  Shore,  Pine  Creek 

&  Buffalo  R.  R.  Co 216 

Arnold,  F.  H.,  associate  judge,  business  associate 151 

Arnot,  F.  H.,  of  Elmira,  railroad  corporator 219 

Austin,  Edwin  0.,  lawyer,  founder  of  Austin 69 

Bar,  admission  to 69 

Backus,  Seth,  of  Smethport,  business  associate 151 

Barse,  C.  V.  B.,  of  Olean,  N.  Y.,  corporator  C.  &  P.  A.  R.  R.  Co.,  219 
Bartholomew,  Ben  j . ,  non-resident  member  of  Potter  County  Bar,  69 

Battle  of  Ridgefield,  in  the  American  Revolution 34 

Beath,  Gen.  Robert  B.f  candidate  for  Secretary  of  Internal 

Affairs 175,  206 

Beebe,  N .  B . ,  a  Potter  delegate  to  National  Free  Soil  Convention,  88 

Bennett,  Jane  (Robertson),  wife  (2d)  of  Daniel  Olmsted 56 

Benson,  Isaac,  lawyer,  corporator,  loyal  to  the  Union.  .  .69,  106,  219 
Benton,  A.  M.,  assemblyman,  representing  Clearfield,  Jefferson 

McKean  and  Elk 118,  141,  219 

Bingham,  William,  U.  S.  Senator,  land  proprietor 47,  55 

Bliss,  Horace,  non-resident  member  of  Potter  County  Bar 69 

Bowman,  C.  O.,  House  colleague 115 

Boyer,  T.  J.,  assemblyman  representing  Clearfield,  Jefferson, 

McKean  and  Elk 118 

Boyhood  days 69 

Boundary  between  McKean  and  Warren 119 

Bradford,  William,  Attorney  General 47 

Braintree,  English  port  of  embarkation,  on  the  Blackwater 21 

"Border  Ruffians,"  their  invasion  of  Kansas 96 

Border  raids  during  the  Civil  War 114,  116,  120 

Brewster,  Benj.  H.,  Attorney  General  of  United  States 144,  183 

(261) 


262  INDEX 

PAQH 

Beaver,  General  James  A.,  confirmed  as  Major-General 165 

Brodhead  and  Sullivan,  their  expeditions  against  the  Indians,     38 

Brown,  Rasselas,  of  Warren,  distinguished  lawyer 171 

Brown,    W.    D.,   judge,   legislator,   representing   Warren   and 

Venango 118,  124 

Buckalew,    Charles    R.f    constitutional    lawyer,    U.    8.    Sen 
ator  144,  161,  173 

Bucktail  Rifle  Regiment 102,  129 

Butterworth,  A.  H.,  delegate  from  Potter  to  National  Free  Soil 

Convention 88 

Butterworth,  W.  C.,  editor  and  lawyer 69,  88 

Candidature  of  Fremont  for  President 99 

Cary,  C.  S.,  of  Olean,  N.  Y.,  Solicitor-General,  railroad  corpo 
rator 219 

Cases,  important,  tried  during  judicial  presidency 222 

Cartee  (Cartier)  settlement 44,  108 

Catoonah,  Indian  Sachem,  purchase  of  lands  from  him 31 

Centennial  Celebration,  Senate  Committee  service 164 

Chairmanship  Republican  State  Convention 221,  251 

Clark,  Nelson,  a  vice-president,  Free  Soil  Convention  of  Potter 

County 88 

Chase,  D.  C.,  a  Potter  delegate  to  National  Free  Soil  Convention,     88 

Clark,  Junius,  of  Warren,  a  professional  associate 171 

Citizens'  Trust  Company,  organization 241 

Citizens'  Water  Company,  organization 221 

Civil  War,  its  darkest  days 119,  120 

Connecticut  Title  Controversy 36,  46-48 

Crest,  The,  fountain  of  far-flowing  rivers 49 

Chancellorsville,  Battle  of,  description  of 127 

Colcord,  M.  J.,  editor,  president  Centennial  Day 102,  242 

Cole,  L.  B.,  non-resident  member  of  Potter  Bar 69 

Committee  assignments  in  House 115,  118 

in  Senate 145,  148,  164 

Constitution  of  Pennsylvania,  consequences  of  revision,  116,  117,  126 
Constitution  of  United  States,  15th  Amendment  in  Pennsylvania 

Senate 145 

Constitutionality  of  Conscript  Law  denied  by  Supreme  Court .  .   122 

Contemporaries  in  Congress  and  Cabinet 115 

Cooper,  J.  A.,  principal  Lewisville  Academy 61 

Correspondence  with  soldiers : . . . .  128 

with  civilians 249 

Cornplanter  Indian  grant 47 

Cottar,  Charles  B.,  member  of  the  Bar 69 

Comlersport  Fire  Department 240 

Coudersport  fire  of  1880 220 

Coudersport  Natural  Gas  Co.,  organization 221 

Coudersport  Milk  Factory,  organization 241 

Coudersport  &  Port  Allegany  R.  R.  Co 219,  245 

County  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society 110 

Court-house  built  and  rebuilt 65 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  his  purpose  to  join  the  emigrants 19 

Curtin,  Andrew  G.,  War  Governor 94,  102,  114 

Gushing,  Lucas,  pioneer  and  proprietor  temperance  hotel,  48,  55,  73 


INDEX  263 


Dent,  H.  H.,  land  proprietor 66 

District  Attorney,  first  election 71 

DuBois,  William  F.,  lawyer,  married  Nellie,  only  daughter  of 

Arthur  G.  Olmsted 109 

DuBois,  Arthur  William,  son  of  William  F.  and  Nellie  (Olmsted) 

DuBois 109 

Dwight,  Walton,  commanding  149th  P.  V 105,  128,  249 

East  and  West  Highway 48,  72 

Election  to  the  House,  111 ;  re-election 118 

Election  to  the  Senate 140 

Early,  C.  R.,  representative  from  Elk 116-118 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  her  economic  maxim 19 

Fair  Play  Men,  a  source  of  population 244 

Fizzell,  Kathryn,  married  Robert  Arch  Olmsted 110 

Freeman,  S.  D.,  of  Smethport,  Civil  War  Army  Surgeon. . . .  102,  249 

Free  Soil  Convention  at  Coudersport 88 

Free  School  Law  of  Pennsylvania,  in  its  inception 68,  236 

Gamble,  James,  a  non-resident  member  of  Potter  Bar 69 

Geary,  John  W.,  Gen.,  Governor  of  Kansas  and  Pennsylvania, 

162,  171,  179,  249 

Glacial  onset  along  the  highlands  of  the  Allegheny 61 

Goodyear,  Frank  H.  and  C.  W.,  lumber  manufacturers 246 

Gorton,  Samuel,  his  new  theology 26 

Gould,  Jay,  historian  of  Delaware  County,  N.  Y 39 

Graham,  James  L.,  senatorial  contemporary 146,  175 

Graves,  W.  B.,  a  Potter  delegate  to  the  National  Free  Soil  Con 
vention 88 

Greeley,  Horace 69,  94,  178 

Grow,  Galusha  A.,  father  of  Homestead  Law 115,  126,  237 

Grover,  Martin,  M.  C.,  of  Wilmot  Proviso  Committee,  judge. . .     92 
Guernsey,  John  W.,  of  Wellsboro,  House  colleague 118 

Hacket,  F.  B.,  of  Emporium,  who  aided  recruiting  in  1861 102 

Hamlin,  Byron,  lawyer  and  state  senator 161 

Hamlin,  Hannibal,  Vice-President  and  Senator  United  States  .  .   151 

Hamlin,  Henry,  banker,  associate  judge 240,  254 

Hamlin,  Orlo  J.,  legislator,  member  of  Pennsylvania  Constitu 
tional  Convention 69,  71 

Hampden,  the  great  English  Commoner 19,  27 

Hartranft,  General  John  F.,  Governor,  confirmed  Maj. -General, 

144,  165,  174-178-79,  249 
Heath,  H.  S.;  president  Potter  County  Free  Soil  Convention, 

79,  88,  109 
Hicks,  Capt.  Thomas,  of  New  York  Volunteers  in  the  Revolution, 

37-42 

Hooker,  Thomas,  minister  and  Colonial  leader 18,  21-24,  27,  75 

House,  Col.  E.  M.  (see  Jonathan,  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and 

Seclendia,  ancestors  of  Ellen  (Ross)  wife  of  A.  G.  Olmsted),  108 


264  INDEX 

PAGE 

Indian  Wars,  ending  in  treaty  of  peace 38 

Issues,  State  and  National,  in  1874 184,  203 

Ives,  Timothy,  academy  director,  state  senator 62 

Jersey  Shore,  Pine  Creek  and  Buffalo  R.  R.  Co 99,  149,  216 

Jinks,  Nelson  B.,  secretary  Potter  County  Free  Soil  Convention,    88 
Johnson,   J.   C.,    captain  in   Civil   War,   assemblyman   from 

Cameron 105,  112,  209,  249 

Johnson,  S.  P.,  prominent  lawyer  and  judge 69,  79 

Jones,  Arch  F.,  a  corporator  of  J.  S.,  P.  C.  &  Buffalo  R.  R.  Co.  216 
Jones,  W.  K.,  a  corporator  of  J.  S.,  P.  C.  &  Buffalo  R.  R.  Co.. .  216 

Jones  &  Storrs,  general  merchandise,  Coudersport 74 

Judge,  appointment  and  elections 171,  209 

Kane,  Thomas  L.,  General,  first  president  State  Board  of  Public 

Charities 102,  106,  148,  225,  249 

Keating,  John,  land  proprietor 60 

Kelley,  W.  D.,  Protection  Congressional  leader 182,  206 

Kelly,  Martin,  a  Bucktail  Arnold  of  Winkelried 103 

King  Phillip's  War 29 

Knox,  F.  W.,  lawyer  and  business  associate,  45,  63,  70,  106,  151, 

218,  220 
Know  Nothing  Party 93,  94 

Labor  and  capital,  first  arbitration  commission  reported  ....  167,  169 

Larrabee,  Don  Carlos,  law  partner 216 

Lawyers,    distinguished  in  attendance  at  Smethport 224,  227 

of  McKean  Bar  during  judicial  presidency 228 

of  Potter  Bar  during  judicial  presidency 228 

Law  of  the  lumber  business 143 

Lear,  George,  lawyer  and  Republican  orator 172 

Lewis,  O.  A.,  a  Coudersport  delegate  to  National  Free  Soil 

Convention 88 

Lewis,  Seth,  law  student  admitted  to  practice 141 

Lewis,  W.  I.,  prominent  lawyer  and  citizen 221 

Lewis,  Thomas,  a  Coudersport  delegate  to  National  Free  Soil 

Convention 88 

Library,  Public 65 

License  petition  revised 80 

Lieutenant-Governor  nomination  in  1874 175 

Lincoln,  Wilmot,  Sumner,    Banks,  Wilson,  Clay  and  Giddings, 

unsuccessful  candidates  for  Vice-President  in  1856 92 

Log  jam,  description 101 

Lowry,  Morrow  B.,  a  senatorial  contemporary 146,  161 

Lyman,  Burrel,  a  vice-president  Coudersport  Free  Soil  Con 
vention  •    88 

Mackey,  Robert  W.,  State  Treasurer  and  political  leader 144 

Mann,  A.  B.,  secretary  condensed  milk  factory 241 

Mann,  John  S.,  lawyer,  legislator,  abolitionist 64,  69,  70,  81, 

88,  106,  140,  145 

Mann,  Joseph,  agent  Oswayo  Lumber  Association 74 

Masonville,  N.  Y.,  description  of  the  region 41 


INDEX  265 

PAGE 

Mayo,  E.  R.,  of  Smethport,  lawyer,  captain  in  Civil  War  ......  114 

Maynard,  L.  F.f  lawyer,  secretary  of  Coudersport  Academy.  .  .62,  69 
McClure,  Alexander  K.,  distinguished  editor,  assemblyman  from 

Perry  .....................  .  ...............  91,  124,  175,  206 

McKean,  Thomas,  Governor,  Chief  Justice,  President  of  Con- 

MclSugaU',  William  W.Y  editor  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .'  .73-74,  88 
McNamara,  T.  B.,  a  Coudersport  delegate  to  National  Free  Soil 

Convention  ..........................................     88 

McPherson,  Edward,  Republican  party  leader  ................  206 

McKean  and  Elk  Land  and  Improvement  Co.  vs.  Wm  Hacker 

and  Harry  G.  Clay  ...................................  223 

Melvin's  Case  ............................................   170 

Memorial  resolutions  ...................................  212-14 

Mercur,  Ulysses,  M.  C.,  a  Congressional  leader,  Chief  Justice 

of  Pennsylvania  ................  ...................  173,  206 

Morrison,  Thomas  A.,  Superior  Court  judge,  reminiscences  .....  225 

Murray,  Thomas  H.,  of  Clearfield,  an  appreciation  ............  250 

Natural  resources,  development  legislation  .............  125,  165-66 

Nature's  highways,  navigable  by  law  .......................   142 

New  county  project  defeated  ...............................  167 

Nichols,  R.  L.,  corporator  of  Citizens'  Water  Company  .......  220 

Niles,  John  E.,  non-resident  member  of  Potter  Bar  ...........     69 

Northern  Tier,  nursery  of  important  governmental  policies  .  .  .  235-38 
Norwalk,  Conn.,  its  settlement,  28;  destruction  ...............  35 


Ole  Bull,  his  settlement  in  Potter  ...........................     72 

Olmsted  (1)  Richard,  earliest  known  ancestor,  born  in  England 

about  1430  ...............................     20 

(2)  James,  a  descendant  of  Richard,  born  about  1524,     20 

(3)  James,  Jr.,  of  Great  Leighs,  Essex,  born  about  1550,     20 

(4)  James,  son  of  James,  Jr.,  emigrated  to  America.  .  .     21 

(5)  Richard,  born  in  1611  (son  of  Richard),  nephew  of 

James,  arrived  with  his  uncle  at  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  founded  Norwalk,  legislator, 
sergeant  ................................  22,  28 

(6)  John,  lieutenant  and  selectman  at  Hartford,  eon  of 

Richard  .................................     30 

(7)  Richard,   captain   (son  of  John),  who,  with  his 

brother  Daniel,  purchased  lands  from 
Catoonah,  and  founded  Ridgefield  ..........  31 

(8)  Daniel  (son  of  Richard),  Revolutionary  soldier, 

pioneer  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Delaware, 

32,  34-40 

(9)  Seneca  (son  of  Daniel),  settler  at  Masonville,  N.  Y., 

migrating  with  his  brother  and  family  to 
Pennsylvania  .........................  43,  44,  54 

Gardner  Hicks,  son  of  Seneca  ..............  43,  54,  56 

(10)  Daniel  (son  of  Seneca),  removed  to  Pennsylvania 

frontier  at  Ulysses,  Potter  County.  .  .45,  46,  55-57 
Henry  Jason  (eldest  son  of  Daniel)  .........  55,  64,  66 

Marlin  E.,  M.  C.,  son  of  Henry  Jason.  .  .  ,  104,  215,  242 


266  INDEX 

PAGE 

(11)  Arthur  George  Olmsted,  subject  of  this  biography, 

second  son  of  Daniel,  events  in  his  life,  65,  58,  59, 

76,  79,  82,  88,  89,  94,  116,  118,  105,  124,  127, 

139-40,  175,  184,  251 

Sarah  Elizabeth,  his  sister 65 

Daniel  Edward,  his  brother 55 

Seneca  Lewis,  his  brother 55 

Herbert  Gushing,  his  brother 65 

(12)  Nellie,  only  daughter  of  Arthur  George  Olmsted, 

married  William  F.  DuBois 109 

DuBois,  Arthur  William,  son  of  William  F.  and 

Nellie  (Olmsted)  DuBois 110 

(13)  Robert  Arch  Olmsted,  only  son  of  Arthur  George 

Olmsted,  married  Kathryn  Fizzell 109,  255 

Arthur  George,  Warren  William,   Margaret  Ellen 
McLeod,  children  of  Robert  Arch  and  Kathryn 

(Fizzell)  Olmsted 110 

Orator  for  the  Union ,95,  102,  105 

Oswayo  Lumber  Association , . , 74 

Parsons,  A.  V.,  Deputy  Attorney  General 69 

Payne,  Hiram,  editor  and  lawyer 69 

Paul-Revere  ride  of  Daniel  Olmsted 34 

Paxson,  Edward  M.,  Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania 175,  206 

Pennsylvania  Legislature  concedes  slavery  as  a  constitutional 

right 146 

Pennsylvania  Reserve  Corps 120 

Pennsylvania  statesmen  of  1868 144 

Peace  faction  in  the  North 122 

Pension  Law  of  1865 127 

People's  Journal,  herald  of  liberty  to  the  pioneers 74 

Period  of  retirement 248-54 

Peck,  J.  Newton,  lawyer,  vice-president  condensed  milk  factory, 

Pequod  War 23 

Persecution  of  Puritans 17 

Pioneers  of  the  Upper  Delaware 39-40 

Pickering,  Timothy,   exponent  of  free  school  system,  cabinet 

officer  and  senator 235-36,  247 

Philadelphia  Republican  mass  meeting  in  1874 181-82 

Political  upheaval  of  1873-4 178-79 

Pollock,  James,  Governor 93-97 

Population,  sources  of 244 

Portage  township,  detached  to  Cameron 110 

Potter  County  Centennial 241 

Potter  County  Prohibition  Law 82 

Potter  County  yolunteers  in  Civil  War 104 

Potter  County,  its  natural  characteristics 49 

Prehistoric  drainage  of  Western  Pennsylvania ,.,,,,,, 51 

Quakers,  exiled,  took  part  in  the  Hartford  settlement 26 

Quay,  Matthew  S.,  representative  from  Washington  and  Beaver, 

United  States  Senator 124,  144 


INDEX  267 

PAGE 

Reminiscences  and  appreciation 209-14,  225,  229,  250 

Republic,  foundation  of,  at  Hartford 24 

Republican   party   prestige  overwhelmed  in   1874  by   "Hard 
Times,"  Enforcement  Acts,  Local  Option,  "Third  Term," 

"Whiskey  Ring"  and  Belknap  impeachment 178 

Republican  party  turning  point  in  Pennsylvania 206 

Republican  party  defeat  of  1874  discussed 204-206 

Rockefeller,  John  D.,  Jr.,  his  creed 79 

Rogers,  Lucius,  of  Smethport,  Senate  clerk 148,  249 

Root,  F.  H.,  of  Buffalo,  railroad  corporator 219 

Ross,  Sobieski,  M.  C.,  business  associate 108,  151 

Ross,  Ellen,  daughter  of  David  Ross,  wife  of  Arthur  G.  Olmsted,  108 
Ross,  David,  a  Revolutionary  soldier  at  fifteen,  father  of  Ellen 

(Ross)  Olmsted 108 

Ross,  John  L.,  president  J.  S.,  P.  C.  &  Buffalo  R.  R.  Co 216 

Rutan,  James  L.,  Republican  leader  and  State  Senator 164,  249 

Scott,  Thomas  A.,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War 249 

Scofield,  Glenni  W.,  M.  C.,  a  Congressional  leader  in  the  Civil 

War 206,  237 

Scofield,  Lucy  Ann,  wife  of  Daniel  Olmsted,  daughter  of  Lewis 

Scofield : 45 

Seward'a  bloodless  national  triumph 97 

Slade,  S.  A.,  a  Coudersport  delegate  to  the  National  Free  Soil 

Convention -. 88 

Slavery,  abolition  of 74,  86,  88,  95,  146 

Soldiers'  monument  at  Coudersport,  subscribers 215-16 

Spafford,  L.  D.,  president  Coudersport  Academy 62 

Special  legislation,  era  of 117 

Special  session  of  General  Assembly  in  1864 117 

Smith,  A.  W.,  principal  of  Coudersport  Academy 61 

Speeches:  In  the  Senate  on  railroad  bill 152,  161 

At  Philadelphia  in  campaign  of  1874 184,  203 

Stage  route,  Bellefonte  to  Smethport 72 

Stebbins,  Pierre,  Jr.,  director  in  J.  S.,  P.  C.  &  Buffalo  R.  R.,  215,  216 
Stevens,  Joseph  W.,  a  Coudersport  delegate  to  the  National 

Free  Soil  Convention 88 

Stevens,  Thaddeus,  "American  Commoner"     58,  115,  126,  206 

Stinson,  Charles  H.,  of  Norristown,  Speaker  of  Senate,  144,  171,  249 

Stone,  Samuel,  teacher  and  religious  leader     18,  21,  22,  23,  75 

Stone,  Charles  W.,  M.  C.,  Congressional  leader  in  "Free  Silver" 

and  Spanish  War  eras 167,  238 

Stone,  General  Roy,  commanding  "Bucktail"  Brigade 129 

Strang,  Butler  B.,  Speaker  of  the  House  afterwards  Senator, 

151,  161,  249 
Susquehanna  Company,  townships  of,  1796 47 

Temperance  cause  in  its  early  organization 69,  79 

Thirteenth  U.  S.  Constitutional  Amendment 124 

Thompson,  M.  S.,  treasurer  condensed  milk  factory 241,  256 

Tubbs,  Charles,  historical  address  cited 44 

Turnpike,  Jersey  Shore  to  Olean 71 


268  INDEX 

PAGE 

Ulysses  Township,  its  soil  and  character 60 

Veto  of  J.  8.,  P.  C.  &  Buffalo  R.  R.  bill 162 

Wallace,  William  A.,  distinguished  U.  S.  Senator,  Democratic 

leader 144,  146,  161,  164 

Warner,  Oliver  C.,  a  Coudersport  delegate  to  National  Free  Soil 

Convention 88 

War  scandals  in  Pennsylvania  during  Civil  War 120 

Wayne's  victory  at  Fallen  Timbers 38 

Wellsville  Plank  Road  Company 75 

White,  Gen.  Harry,   M.  C.,  State  and  Congressional  leader, 

144,  161,  164,  168 

White,  Robert  G.,  of  Wellsboro,  judge 141,  209 

Williams,  H.  W.,  Supreme  Court  Justice 141,  209,  215,  233 

Williams,  Roger,  founder  in  New  England  of  Baptist  faith,  21,  26,  75 
Williams,  Thomas  C.,  a  Congressional  leader  in  Civil  War. .  115,  206 

Williston,  Horace,  of  Wellsboro,  judge 69 

Wilson,  Joseph,  non-resident  member  of  Potter  Bar 69 

Wilson,  Stephen F.,  M.  C.,  of  Wellsboro,  judge. . .  .209,  212,  215,  222 
Wilmot,  David,  M.  C.,   of  Towanda,   a  noted  Congressional 

leader 91,  93,  237-38 

Wilmot  Proviso 91 

Winthrop,  John  C.,  Colonial  Governor 21,  23,  26 


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